


The Silent Killer

by DanteDonovan



Category: Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children
Genre: Abuse, Angst, Blood, Bloodplay, Drama & Romance, Horror, Human Experimentation, M/M, Mild Language, Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-07
Updated: 2014-07-09
Packaged: 2018-02-07 21:35:13
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 25,386
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1914633
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DanteDonovan/pseuds/DanteDonovan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Reno and Rude find out Rufus has set a meeting with the 3 Remnants. Yazoo is wondering if he'll lose his brother to Mother. Rated M for violence, Non-Con, yaoi, mild het, blood play, torture, angst and deaths. (All this might be considered explicit-not sure-fair warning)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. I

**Author's Note:**

> **Not interested in:** Reviews that critique grammar, etc. Not because I can't handle being told I did something wrong, but because I am slowly but surely working on it myself. I keep Writing books near me to help. Basically, I am pretty aware of what is going on in my writing lol.
> 
> **Interested in:** Reviews about how (if it is that type of story) on how fanfic characters are portrayed since I try to make it as realistic as possible), character developments, and all that crap. I wish to create fictions that will please you! Enjoy! :)

"ARGH DAMNIT!"

Rude couldn't help but flinch at the sound of a chair as it smashed into a wall and splintered to pieces. The chunks of wood dropped to the floor in a similar manner as that of the previous one. The two chairs had become, in a sense, a match set. All courtesy of his partner Reno the one who never failed at his job. Reno, the assassin. Reno ,the pilot. Reno, the wise-ass, and at the current moment, Reno the destroyer.

"What is wrong with that man?" Reno loudly declared for the hundredth time. "Why is Rufus doing this? I know he's all about getting to rule the world and parade his power around but this? He's taking this way too far!" Reno ranted while storming around the room for something else to throw but was sadly being denied. For anything that could have been thrown was already in pieces near the wall.

"Reno calm down. I understand your anger of Rufus' decision. I'm not happy with it either. Just that there is nothing we can do about it." Rude offered calmly yet with a touch of authority only to get glaring ice blue eyes in return and a low growl showing exactly what Reno thought of Rude's logic. _'Damn that guy takes "red-heads have tempers" to a whole new level'_ Rude observed.

Reno turned back to face Rude again, his anger no more calm than it was before. "How can you be so accepting of this? I mean, come on, he set up a meeting with THEM! The Three Silver Haired Screw Ups! He wants us to just stand behind him and smile? Oh hell no!" Reno yelled out then smashed his fist through the wall. Rude just raised his eyebrows. Trying to stop Reno right now would be a hopeless mission, but he had to try to get him to settle down before the whole building got set on fire. Something he would not put past Reno given the extremities of the current situation.

"Reno stop" Rude said flatly. No longer asking but telling him. "Rufus is doing this for a reason, trying to bargain with them to learn more about them in the process."

"That right there partner is a load of bull!" Reno angrily retorted. "He's trying to do the 'I looked death in the face' crap. Then later on gloat about it and get more people's worshiping of him. The all-powerful Shinra oooooh..." Reno said as he dramatically waved his hands around all the while.

Rude looked away. There was nothing he could say to his partner to help the whole situation. What also didn't help was that most likely Reno was right. It was all for show. Rude understood where Reno's anger was coming from though. It was mainly the fact that they were going to have the brothers, all three, in the same room and not take advantage of it. Almost as if his partner could hear his thoughts, Reno turned around to face him.

"Yeah you know what I'm sayin'. Man, there are lots of things I want to do before I die, but having a tea party while chillin' with Sephiroth leftovers is NOT among them."

At hearing this, Rude let out a snicker then instantly regained his composure.

"What you laughin' at? They're weird and you know it." Reno said while looking at Rude waiting for him to say something, but no such luck, so he continued. "I mean you got one all big and muscley but with nothing upstairs. Then there's that little brat who likes to talk big and go into hysterics when he doesn't get what he wants." _'Almost like Rufus'_ Reno thought. "Then you got the tall one who always stands off to the side and slightly back who ALSO never says a damn word. He's the one that really creeps me out. He does nothin' but stare with those glassy eyes. What was his name again? Hmm..."

"Yazoo" Rude said. "The others are Kadaj and Loz."

"Aah yes that's it!" Continued Reno without hesitation. "Yeah, Yazoo. No matter where I've seen him he just stands there, or does something but still never opens his mouth. It's damned creepy,-ugh." he ended it and gave himself a slight shake.

"Well I really don't know what to say so maybe I should just go find something else to do..." Rude responded as he headed for the door.

Reno just glared at him. _'How can he possibly keep his mouth shut about this? Pussy...'_

Yes, Rufus it seemed had come up with a "great plan", which was to invite the remnants over for a meeting. It was about Jenova's head, or more widely known as "Mother."

TBC

******  
Please do not mention grammar/spelling problems, it has been a while since I have written anything. I am also learning from my mistakes so I am paying attention. I am even reading Teaching books on writing properly so as I continue on with the stories I can improve for you all and you will have a pleasant reading experience (:


	2. II

"Yes! We have a meeting! We're going to get Mother!"

Yazoo jerked his head up from his bike and glared at his brother for waking him from a much-needed nap. Yazoo had been sitting on his bike when Kadaj called President Rufus Shinra. As he sat there listening to Kadaj he realized how much Rufus talked too. Yazoo figured this was going to take a while so had crossed his arms and lay his head down on his bike and fell asleep.

"Why are you mad at me for waking you up?" Kadaj snapped, to which Yazoo only raised an eyebrow. "Do you not care about Mother?" Kadaj continued as he stormed over to Yazoo. "Answer me!"

Yazoo just stared at his younger brother in silence. He never talked much because long ago he found it would not get anywhere with Kadaj. The easiest way to get along with him was to just smile and nod. If there were any talking going on while he was speaking, there would be hell to pay. However being silent with Kadaj was like being a double-edged sword. Usually Kadaj hated it when Yazoo talked because he would suggest ways to perfect a plan or an opinion about something that could possibly be the contrary of what was said. Kadaj would then just scream at how he was always right and would kill anyone who thought or said otherwise. He never minded when Loz talked though since most of the time he was just encouraging Kadaj's behavior and smiling away.

Unfortunately, there would be times where Kadaj would be upset at his brother's silence because he would then assume Yazoo didn't care or just wasn't paying attention. Ironically, the latter of the two would be what would have pissed him off the most. Even more ironic however is that Yazoo really couldn't care less about finding Mother anymore. It had come to be a giant pain in the ass. _'Hmph. I care about finding her if it means you'll permanently shut up...'_ Yazoo thought as he glowered right back. The only real reason Yazoo did anything was that he just wanted his brother to finally stop his never-ending rants and continuous screaming. That would only happen when they found Mother. He did care about finding Mother, just not in the way Kadaj wanted him to. Of course, he would never say that to him. So, Yazoo just sat and waited for whatever Kadaj was going to yell.

"Aaaaaargh!" Kadaj yelled out as he swung, catching Yazoo on the side of the face with the back of his hand hard enough to make him fly off his bike. After hitting the ground hard Yazoo groaned and brought his hand up to his face as he began to stand back up. Kadaj, already fueled with his anger, went around the bike to meet Yazoo and before he was fully upright Kadaj swung out again. This time hitting him open handed on the side of the head sending him to the ground once more.

"Ugh" Yazoo grunted as he slammed on to the ground and before being able to move felt a foot in his stomach. Yazoo could always hold his own if he got into fights but his brother had caught him off guard and now had the upper hand. _'Oh Jenova...Not again...'_ Yazoo thought in his head then winced as he felt the hard toe of Kadaj's boot in his ribs soon to be followed by another and another. Lying on his side clutching his stomach in pain Yazoo remembered how this had happened before. It had been so long ago he had almost forgotten about it. Since that last time, he had managed to stay on Kadaj's "good side" and only end up with a couple hits here and there but nothing like this. Even though a decent time had passed since then he still had a crystal clear vision of the events that had taken place, of how he had been beaten bloody and ended up with some broken bones that he had to use materia on to fix. Not only that but sexual assaults as well for entertainment value. Yazoo cringed, dreading what was about most likely to happen, but not being able to do shit about it.

"How could you not care about Mother!" Kadaj screamed as he continued his kicking. "Why don't you answer me? Say something damn it!"

From a distance away of keeping watch, Loz heard Kadaj scream and ran over to see what had happened and was shocked by what he was seeing. He had remembered that last time as well. "Kadaj what are you doing? Please stop you're hurting him!"

Kadaj stopped his kicking to turn and face Loz. "Don't you ever tell me not to do something! I'm the leader here. Our older brother has decided he doesn't want to cooperate and so needs to be taught a lesson!" Kadaj snapped, silencing Loz. "Now get the hell out of here and let me do what needs to be done!" he ordered and watched as Loz lowered his head and nodded. Being the softer type, Loz never had the nerve to stand up to his brother. Loz sighed, turned, and headed back to where he came from.

Yazoo didn't know what to say to Kadaj's screaming. He hadn't responded only for the fact that nothing he could say would have calmed his brother down. Yazoo then heard Loz begging in the background and Kadaj stopped with his assault to put him in his place. Taking advantage of his brother's pause in his assault Yazoo rolled over and tried to get on to his hands and knees only to be stopped with a foot slamming down on his back pinning him down to the ground.

"Where do you think you're going brother?" Kadaj quietly asked and then added one final stomp.

"Aagh!" Yazoo cried out as he felt ribs break and slice into his lung. He listened, as his younger brother laughed at the knowledge of what he had just done, for nothing pleased him more than giving pain to those he felt deserved it.

As soon as the pressure was removed from his back, Yazoo began coughing with blood not long in following. Before he could even get a chance to think he felt a hand twine its way into his hair, yanking hard, and then dragging him through the dirt and rocks. Yazoo had no clue as to where Kadaj was taking him but it didn't really matter. All Yazoo knew was that no matter where they were headed, the result was going to be the same.

Though it was only for a few minutes before Kadaj took him to a spot he found adequate for his needs, to Yazoo, it seemed like an eternity. They had stopped in a small, secluded spot, with boulders and a couple of trees surrounding it. He listened as Kadaj gave an evil giggle as he opened his hand, letting Yazoo's head hit the ground. Kadaj was standing with his back to him and as much as Yazoo wanted to try to get away, he knew it would be pointless with the condition his body was in already. Lying with his eyes on his brother, he watched as he began to take off his gloves, armor, followed by his jacket.

"Boy did you really ask for it this time brother." Kadaj said breaking the silence. "It seems to me that you were almost begging for it..." he said and turned to gaze sadistically upon his older brother. Yazoo swallowed hard as his brother began to approach. _'What is going on here? Even last time he wasn't this insane...please stop this Kadaj, please don't do this...'_ Yazoo pleaded frantically in his head.

Kadaj then slowly bent over, grabbing the straps of Yazoo's armor, pulled him up into a sitting position. Next, he began to remove the shoulder pads, unzip, and remove the trench coat. Once this was done Kadaj sat down on his knees in a straddling position over Yazoo's lap. Yazoo turned his head to avoid his brother's hard stare, and in the process, went into another coughing fit leaving blood running down his chin. Yazoo squeezed his eyes shut as he felt his brother's hand gently on his face, sliding his fingers up into his hair and slowly turning his head back to face him. Kadaj's silence was beginning to make Yazoo even more nervous because only when he was quiet was he truly up to something. That's when Yazoo saw it. The hand that wasn't touching his face was holding a knife. The one Kadaj kept in his pocket for little things. _'Oh shit. .He really is fucked up in the head now...'_ He thought as he started to shake.

"Funny" Kadaj finally spoke, making Yazoo jump. Kadaj yanked him forward while bringing the still retracted blade up to the side of his face, forcing a bruising kiss on his mouth. Yazoo could taste the blood in his mouth that was coming out of his bottom lip that was now split. Quickly ending his assault on his older brother's mouth Kadaj then moved his own back to where it grazed Yazoo's ear and whispered. "I never figured you for a beggar..." followed by the snap of the switchblade opening. Yazoo closed his eyes as a few tears rolled down his face. "Now, now, brother don't be like that" Kadaj said as he smiled wide which soon twisted into a sneer. "Mother doesn't like it!" Yazoo cried out in pain as the knife sliced across his chest just deep enough to cause blood to freely drip down. Followed by another, and another. "Ah..." Yazoo winced at the continuous slicing.

Suddenly Kadaj slammed him down on his back, which resulted in more pain as sharp rocks dug into him from underneath. "Already whining are we?" Kadaj said quietly. "I haven't even begun to punish you." As he was finishing he had slowly started carving in random designs with his knife on Yazoo's skin. Dragging the blade from his chest to his stomach, up over his arms stopping at the base of his neck. "Hmm..." Kadaj sounded as he brought the knife to his mouth licking the blade clean. "I think it's time we got down to business." Kadaj seemed to be contemplating something then quickly stood up. "Get on your stomach" he ordered.

 _'Oh, god what is he going to do now?...'_ Yazoo thought to himself even though he really didn't want to know. He groaned trying to move but the slicing pain through his body from the cuts made it difficult. "I said now you lazy fuck!" Kadaj screamed then kicking his older brother hard enough to flip him over. "See you are the problem here. You don't listen to a damn thing!" With that said Kadaj leaned over, grabbed Yazoo's arm, put his foot on his brother's back for leverage, and jerked it up and back. "Aaaah!" Yazoo screamed as he felt his shoulder, his elbow, and his wrist snap and break. Kadaj dropped his brother's now limp arm to the hard ground. "Hmm I don't think that's going to work. I'll be right back. Now don't you go anywhere." he said in a sickeningly sweet tone.

Yazoo heard rocks moving around and was pretty sure at what was coming. Between his lung, his now dirt and gravel filled cuts, his broken arm, and the pressure in his head of knowing what was coming was too much and Yazoo broke down crying. _'He...was never...this bad...before...'_ He thought as his head spun from all the pain and confusion. "Oh no. Tell me you are not doing what I think you are. CRYING?" Yazoo jumped at the scream. "I can NOT believe you!" Kadaj kicked his brother hard and put him on his back once more. Coughing up more blood Yazoo looked up at his brother and froze when he saw what he held. This was going to be worse than he thought it was going to be.

"Oh Yazoo what's wrong?" Kadaj asked his brother in a manner one would talk to a puppy. "I am only doing what is needed..." he said as he knelt down. In his hands, he held a decent sized rock that was full of jagged edges and looked to be a good 20lbs. He raised it high, his eyes flashing with excitement at seeing the fear in his older brother's eyes. "I mean after all. I can't have you kicking me now can I?" Yazoo didn't have the time to process what was said because as soon as the last word came out of his younger brother's mouth he brought the rock down, fast and hard. Not once, but twice.

Yazoo lay there as the intensity of the pain consumed him and started to go into shock. He never imagined his younger brother would go to such lengths. Kadaj had broken both his knees. "There much better." He heard Kadaj say then watch completely mortified at what his younger brother was now doing. Kadaj was yanking of Yazoo's boots and then ripping off his pants. He was thankful that he was in shock because it allowed him to be a bit more distant from the pain. _'So that's what...he meant by not kicking him...'_ While dizzy and struggling to breathe properly as Kadaj knelt down, straddling him once more. _'You are a fucking freak...'_ Yazoo thought to himself as he watched his younger brother undo his pants and slide them down.

"Now for some fun" he smiled then grabbed a handful of Yazoo's hair bringing him into an upright position, his face only inches away from Kadaj's hardened dick. "I assume I don't need to tell you what I want next." he said then waited in silence, a malicious smile across his face. Yazoo moved forward a bit and then stopped. In pain and completely humiliated he didn't know if he really could do much more. "Don't do it and the next thing I break will be your skull." he heard his brother say calmly. Closing his eyes Yazoo swallowed hard, opened his mouth, and proceeded to give his brother a blowjob.

"Mmmm yeah that's good" Kadaj commented as he enjoyed the sensations he was getting from his brother's mouth. "Faster." he next commanded to which Yazoo listened, increasing his speed. "You are so willing to listen now I see. Maybe you just like this hmm? You fucking whore!" Then grabbed the back of his brother's head and forced him all the way down causing him to choke and spit up more blood. "What's the matter? I thought you were liking this huh?" Kadaj took over and started to ram into his brother's throat, laughing, knowing that he couldn't breathe. "Alright enough of that!" Kadaj yelled and slammed Yazoo back on the ground again. While he was trying to get air, back into his lungs his brother had wasted no time on spreading his legs apart and getting himself positioned with Yazoo's hips lifted for easy entrance. _'Get off of me...'_ was all he could think barely conscious as was.

Kadaj aligned himself with Yazoo and leaned over, his lips barely grazing his brother's. "Scream for me." At that, Kadaj slammed into him ripping his brother open. Yazoo opened his mouth and as soon as he started to scream, Kadaj attacked his mouth with another hard kiss laughing at his brother screaming into his own mouth. Harder and harder Kadaj pumped easily now that he had blood as lubricant. His brother's cries of pain turning him on even more. As he was nearing the point of finishing Kadaj raked his nails up Yazoo's thighs ripping the skin as he went, laughing then took both his hands and put them on his brother's neck and start to squeeze. "Don't...you...ever...ignore...me...again..." He said between heavy breathing as he continued to strangle his brother. "Do you understand me?" _'Yes just end this...already...'_ "Answer me!" All Yazoo could do was barely move his head to give the barest of nods. Laughing at his victory Kadaj let go, grabbed his brother's thighs, and slammed into him a couple more times before he hit his point, grunting as he came into him.

Finally done with what he wanted to do Kadaj stood, pulled his pants back up and smiled, watching as his older brother tried to breathe again while not choking on the blood from his lungs as well. Swiftly Kadaj turned around, grabbed his jacket and armor, and fully dressed himself. Once he finished putting the buckles back above his knees, he walked over to Yazoo and dropped a few balls of materia next to him. Enough that would fix the broken bones and internal injuries and massive damage but not enough to get rid of everything. He wanted his brother to feel the pain from his cuts and bruises. "There. Go clean yourself up whore. We will be leaving in one hour."

As Yazoo lay there, he barely heard his brother speak. He was already zoning out. Kadaj's voice sounding like a small echo in his head. After his brother had left Yazoo reached out with his good hand, feeling around for the materia, seeing as how he didn't even have the strength to roll over. _'Ah there...it...is..'_ as he grabbed on to the small orbs. Holding onto it he closed his eyes and allowed his body to absorb the energy and felt as his broken bones put themselves back together, his breathing returned to normal and his giant tear close back up. When he had used all the materia his brother had left him he still didn't get up. He lay on the ground, not feeling the rocks pressing into his back, and cried. He felt like a thrown away doll that was covered in blood. Used, abused, broken and worthless. It depressed him. It saddened him. He had a family with him but at the same time, he was completely alone. After a bit Yazoo stood up, grabbed his boots, clothes, and went down to the creek. He didn't want to be late.

TBC

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Side note: Things like this are not going to happen 24/7 in the story. This chapter was made more to show how bad Kadaj really has gotten. That's why this is here. I don't write rape into a story just for the sake of inserting sexual contact between hot characters. Just not my thing :d


	3. III

_"Brother? Brother!"_

_Yazoo grimaced as two hands on his shoulders shook him franticly. His head was still spinning and his vision still blurred, it had been over a week since he had last seen his brothers. The doctors had seen it fit to separate him from the other two for longer periods of time._

_Yazoo nodded as he raised a shaky hand to his head. "Y-yeah, I'm fine. It was just the injections making me dizzy."_

_"Are you sure? Is that really all? They didn't do anything else to you did they?"_

_Yazoo shook his head and looked away so Kadaj wouldn't see his eyes. He was a great actor and could pull off anything he wanted, any time, anywhere. If his brother looked into his eyes, right now, he would see how much pain he was really in and he wasn't going to let that happen._

_"No Kadaj, it's okay. They just made me do more physical activities and an increase in Jenova injections. I'm just really tired and sore, that's all. I promise." Yazoo said as he allowed his younger brother to look him over. He sighed as Kadaj's hands turned his face side to side, mentally wincing when the hands ran down his sides, searching for any hidden injuries. The problem was that this time the injuries weren't external they were internal._

_Loz stood off to the side of their room, chewing on a fingernail, worried for his younger brother. He trusted in Kadaj to check him over but still had a feeling in his gut that more had been happening recently than Yazoo was letting on. He let out a breath of some relief when Yazoo turned to him and gave him a faint smile, a sad smile, but a smile none-the-less._

_"Well if anyone ever hurts you I'll kill them! I will find a way. You just tell me and I'll take care of it okay? I promise I will always be here for you."_

_Yazoo smiled at his brothers, Kadaj and Loz; they always knew how to make him feel better somehow. He gave a content sigh as Kadaj kissed his forehead and then pulled him in close, wrapping his arms around him. It saddened Yazoo though that they only had each other, no one else there to rely on or to help them, alone in their white room. Yazoo frowned but then took comfort in knowing that at least none of them was completely alone, without each other. That, of all things, would be unbearable._

_Yes, he would never tell his brothers what had happened or what had always been happening in their separations. He had to protect his brothers, especially Kadaj from worrying, being how young he was as well as quick tempered. Saying anything to him would only lead to disaster and his possible death._

_Yazoo was also the calm one, comforting and soothing the others as they cried. If he showed any signs of pain or fear it would scare them, knowing that the one they went to for safety was breaking down. He had to stay strong for their sakes, he was the only stability left in the insanity of their lives. So Yazoo did the only thing he could, he kept his mouth shut, keeping his emotions locked away, deep inside, where no one would ever find them and hopefully someday forget that they even existed._

_"I love you brother, Loz and I both, remember that." Kadaj spoke softly as he pulled him in even closer._

_Yazoo smiled at those loving words from Kadaj, relaxing in his embrace as he rested his head on his shoulders. "I love both of you too. Always…" he mumbled out as he soon fell asleep in his brother's arms._

Yazoo shook his head back to reality, seeing his reflection in the stream as it flowed beneath him. He had been thinking about times long past, back when he was in his late teens, Kadaj his early. He had been through worse from the doctors when it came to physical injuries but it coming from his brother, hurt so much worse. He tilted his head as he kept staring in the water, frowning as he watched himself move his hands down his chest. The blood was all gone now but the cuts still remained. Kadaj had only left him enough materia to fix major wounds and broken bones, but no more than that. Kadaj had done it on purpose, he knew, wanting the cuts to remain as a reminder of not to cross him in the future. His heart sunk as he raised a hand to his lips, touching the split that was still there. It was smaller now, swelling had gone away, but still it hurt.

_"Brother, you have such a pretty smile. Why do you hide it from us?...Why don't you talk anymore?..."_

Yes, he had stopped being talkative years ago, when they were still in the labs. He had become so used to keeping his emotions in, to hide his hurt from his brothers so as not to worry them, that he had, after a while, forgotten how to express his feelings at all. Sometimes he wanted to say things, talk to them, but in the end, only a few words would come out. As the years passed by it seemed to be a good thing since Kadaj's anger had grown and could be set off easier. He still couldn't understand why Kadaj picked him to vent all of his anger out on when he was angry. Sure, he had snapped at Loz on occasion but never did any more than that. _'Why me? What the hell did I do to make him want to do this to me? Do I even want to know anymore?'_ Yazoo thought to himself as he lowered his hand from his mouth. _'A pretty smile?'_ Yazoo stared down at his face as the sudden scrutiny made him look away. How long had it been since he had ever heard those words from his brother let alone having even done it.

"Hmph" was his only response to that thought as he got out of the stream and began to get dressed. He recalled the previous time, of similar assault that had happened once before, only not as sick and twisted as this. Later on in the day Kadaj had been on his knees begging and pleading for forgiveness, this time, was truly intended. It seemed a lot had changed over the years. Yazoo had a suspicion that this had to do with Mother, her influence becoming stronger as time passed. Kadaj had always been a loose cannon but progressively had become something else, something much more sinister and sadistic than he had once been. Looking at his brother these days was like looking at a stranger anymore, even Loz was confused. Dear, sweet Loz, he would never say anything though. He didn't have the ability to want to go against family, no matter what, so would just do as told as long as it meant he could be with his brothers.

What had happened to Kadaj though? Why had he changed? In Kadaj's need for acknowledgment from Mother he had put himself in front while anything else around him became expendable.

Yazoo sighed as he stood up, just finishing putting on his boots, and headed back to the others. It was only a few minutes before the bikes came into view, his brothers all ready to go. Yazoo paused and looked at his younger brother, searching his eyes for remorse but found nothing but coldness; slowly he looked away and went to mount his bike.

"What took you?"

Yazoo froze, his back to Kadaj, his hands on the seat. _'What now? Just leave me alone…'_ he thought as he shuddered within at the emptiness in that voice. No, this was not the same brother anymore. Not the one who used to hold him when he was tired and aching. Not the brother who had said he loved him and would protect him from harm. Now all that was there was the body of Kadaj, but nothing more than a monster inside. Yazoo closed his eyes at the thought that once, how the doctors had treated him, Kadaj was now doing the same, just wearing black instead of white.

"I said we leave in one hour but that doesn't mean you return on the dot. You should always be early, thought you would know that by now…"

Yazoo just nodded and got on his bike, revving the engine loud in hopes it would cover what his head was despairing about, the fact that the one who used to comfort him from his tormentors had become one himself. What worried Yazoo was he was sure that Kadaj knew but just didn't care. How long would he be able to take this? Would he even be able to love his brother anymore by the time all was said and done? Or would Kadaj completely be taken over by newfound power and leave them all behind? Would he care if that's what happened in the end?

All of these questions and thoughts plagued him, hurting him that all of these were possibilities. Not wanting to love his brother anymore. His brother possibly not loving them once it ends. What to do should any of these things happen. His dislike of Mother had been slowly growing over time and now he hated her existence. He would never tell his brothers this, but he had stopped caring for her a long time ago.

Yazoo shook his head, annoyed by the aching in the lower back of it, frowning as it slowly spread forward. He was getting them more often and it scared him, he hadn't had these types since he had been in the labs. The fear didn't come from the knowledge of pain that would grow, but rather at the cause of it.

"Just wait Jenova, when I find you I will rip you to pieces and burn your remains."


	4. IIII

"This is so not cool at all…not cool, not cool, not cool, not cool…" Was all that could be heard in Rufus' office besides a small 'thunk' after each time he said it. The source of this was Reno, who was currently sitting backwards on a chair and smacking his forehead on it as his hands gripped the sides tight. He was aware of it starting to sting, bordering on becoming painful since he had been at this for some time, most likely if kept up would start bruising. Any other time he would have been concerned for his face, he always did like to look good on the job, but right now, that was the last thing on his mind.

"I think it's time to stop with this Reno, Rufus will be here any minute and I doubt he wants to see one of his Turks acting like a five-year-old, along with the fact that it is getting annoying." Rude sternly spoke to his partner. It was times like these that made him wonder how he could put up with someone like this, let alone be friends. He had never understood it but he supposed that what it boiled down to was one thing, and that was, Reno was a loyal person. He would do anything to help a friend, even random strangers. Sure, the guy was a bit arrogant and always complaining about something but in the end his good nature on the inside won over the obnoxious exterior. Getting on Reno's good side was a hard thing since most people didn't have the energy to keep up with him to go that far. Rude smiled at Reno, who was sitting with his back to him. Yes, that's what made him able to put up with the hot-tempered redhead, patience. Rude definitely had enough of that to go around. He was soon cut from his thoughts when his partner decided to continue his rant.

"Well pardon the hell out of me for being pissed." Reno snapped while lighting a cigarette, then turned to glare at Rude. "Seriously, what do you want me to do? Shower the floor with rose petals and lay out a red carpet for the side show freaks?" Reno gave an aggravated sigh and looked forward again, pausing for a moment as an image of the clones walking down a red carpet into the room filled his mind. Tierras and glitter were also involved as well as hair flipping. Reno grimaced at the vision and cursed himself for having such a vivid imagination. He shook himself, trying to get the image out of his mind while remembering he had something to say to Rude. "Oh yeah, to your comment…" Rude looked at the ceiling, waiting for the childish retort he was no doubt going to receive.

XXX

At this time, Rufus was just coming down the hall with Tseng, his first in command of the Turks, one who could make even Reno go silent with just a look. They stopped and glanced at each other when they heard the rose petal comment and no doubt were suffering the same images as Reno had been though they would never let it show. Rufus walked to the door and leaned his back against the wall beside it while Tseng did the same on the opposite, both just listening to see what all was going to come out at Rude since it seemed that whatever the man had said had greatly irritated his partner. Rufus looked over at Tseng when Reno shed light on to what most likely had been said previously.

"First of all, if Mr. President hated children so much he wouldn't have hired AND kept me. I AM second in Turk ranks REMEMBER. Hey, who knows, maybe he likes kids but would never get away doing anything with them so gets a grown man that acts like one to be safe to have fantasies over." Reno snickered and took another drag.

Catching movement from the corner of his eye, Rude's head turned and eyes went wide behind his shades as he watched the doorknob slowly turn, having no doubt that the president had heard that one and really wasn't sure on what to say to him.

Reno took a pause in his slander to light another cigarette and after taking a drag continued where he left off. "As another, more of curiosity question than anything…how in the hell would me banging my head on the chair take 20 minutes to annoy you? Are you hard of hearing or something?" Rude just rolled his eyes at that comment since he knew Reno wasn't being mean, he really was curious, as Rude would be had their positions been switched. Rude was quickly brought back to full attention once the door had opened and Rufus and Tseng quietly walked in. Since the door had been behind them and off to the side, Reno had no clue they were there, along with his loud mouth covering other senses. Rude started to open his mouth while at the same time raising his hand to Reno's shoulder but was stopped when Rufus shook his head and put his finger to his lips. Rude lowered his hand and took a slight step back as the President and his bodyguard walked in.

"Ya know maybe I'll just shoot the fuckers. Seriously, how upset do you really think Mr. Kinky would get? Sure he might be pissed for a minute but I'd bet he'd get over it damn quick. They could turn into science projects for him. Autopsies and shit ya know? Bet he'd be like a kid in a candy store, all those organs to rummage around through…" Reno went quiet while taking a drag, seeing images of Rufus squealing with joy as he was playing with clone parts and getting red bloodstains on his precious white suit. Reno closed his eyes, yet again cursing his mind for coming up with such horrid images. "Seriously dude, really, what do you think would happen?

"You would possibly lose your life, among other things." Rufus said quietly, his head slightly over Reno's right shoulder. Reno coughed out some smoke from his cigarette then slowly looked out the corner of his eye, his temperature quickly rising as Rufus put his hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze, the calm and silent demeanor doing nothing but making it worse for him. "Uh…heh heh…hi?" Was all Reno could say, his mind momentarily on hiatus. While Reno was frantically trying to think of a way out of the situation, it got even worse.

"I think later on we should meet up and maybe remind you what the meaning of the word "manners" is…" Tseng said, close to Reno's left ear, his hand clamping down on that shoulder, mirroring Rufus' stance. Reno slowly turned his head around to look at Tseng and gulped. Unlike the President's calm look, this one was definitely a not amused look, one that said that if Tseng were alone with him right now he'd be getting his ass handed to him. Reno didn't dare say anything to this man. The President scared him yes, he knew he wouldn't have a problem having one of his own taken care of should they get in the way, but Tseng scared him to death. The difference was that Rufus did what he did for power and control, it was his life job as well a part of his egotistical nature. With Tseng it was different. The man was raised for this lifestyle, taught how to cause physical and mental destruction in ways he could only imagine and never wanted to find out. Reno turned his head forward and took a drag, needing something to distract him from two of the most deadly people he knew of, that at times like these, made him want to regret even having been born.

Rufus, knowing that his point had been clearly made to his Turk, gave Reno's shoulder a final squeeze, stood up, and made his way over to his desk. Tseng on the other hand squeezed even harder, making Reno wince as the nails dug in to his shoulder before letting go and backing away. Reno warily watched the two as they took up their usual positions, Rufus behind his desk, Tseng standing at his side. Reno did have to applaud himself mentally for not having shot out of the chair like he almost did, though right now it wasn't doing much to ease his mind, he was glad that they let slide the way he was sitting since he really was comfortable.

"Might this also serve to remind you that having such a loud mouth as well as sitting with your back to the door can have dire effects to your life span." Rufus said calmly as he crossed his hands on his desk but made it obvious that he wasn't joking.

Reno looked down at the floor and nodded. "Yes sir." Then they all looked at each other, tension rising in the room, as the sound of bike engines grew.

Tseng looked straight on, his composure as always, still intact. "They're here."

Reno let a few more curses fly before standing up and shoving the chair to the side of the room, taking his position next to Rude, waiting for it to begin.


	5. V

People cried out as they jumped away to escape the racing bikes, some narrowly missing being run over. They would raise their fists to the air, shaking them at the three inconsiderate riders, only to quickly silence themselves when they saw who it was. Yes, these boys were well known. Reports had been made from other towns that had been heavily damaged by them in their endless search for Mother. People looked on in curiosity when they saw the direction the clones were heading, President Shinra's.

XXX

Kadaj laughed as the people jumped out of his way, inwardly hoping to catch some stray child under his tires. The entertainment was short-lived however since they were nearing their destination. "Yes, almost there."

Yazoo watched his brother's behavior as he took the rear, highly unamused by Kadaj's antics. Of all times to act like an ass, now was not it. _'He is going to be the cause of failure in this plan if he keeps this crap up',_ Yazoo thought to himself as they neared the building and started to slow down. Another problem was that Yazoo knew this was going to be a bit difficult for himself seeing as how the pain that had been at the back of his head before they left had now spread further. He could feel it pounding and pulsing, almost with a life of its own. _'Shit'_ was all he could think about it, right before their tires screeched to a halt outside the building.

"Alright, let's go" Kadaj commanded as engines were turned off. He looked at his brothers, his smile fading when his eyes fell on Yazoo, who has currently holding his head in his hands, elbows on his bike supporting him. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he rebuked his brother, a bit frustrated when all he got for a response back was a silent look. "You're having one of those headaches aren't you? I thought you stopped having those once we left the labs."

Yazoo sighed and lifted his head up to look at his brother. "I did, this one is just…stress." It was a straight up lie, he knew even Kadaj wouldn't buy it, but didn't care. Yazoo frowned when he saw Loz's face though, he wasn't too happy on this news. "I'm fine Loz, nothing to worry about."

"Promise? I don't like seeing you in pain Yazoo, I mean, those always really got to you." Loz just looked away, not really knowing what else to say to his brother that would be of any use. Only thing that came to his mind were the times of long past, in their white padded room with his brother screaming when they were really bad, or just gripping his head while rocking back and forth, all of these occasions he would eventually collapse and pass out. Loz always hoped it wasn't something he had feared might be the problem when they became more and more consistent, although forgetting about it these past few years since this hadn't come up for so long, but about there possibly being a genetic default in Yazoo. All of them had gotten the same treatment, more extreme on some things than others, depending on the clone's responses, but in the end, nothing really differed between them. Kadaj and he had never had this problem, only Yazoo. Loz knew that his brother had always been keeping some things back, not telling either of his brothers certain details about what was going on with him. The only conclusion Loz could come up with was that either Yazoo had a defect somewhere, or the scientists went a little too overboard with experiments on him and this was a permanent side effect. Loz sniffled suddenly and turned a bit red of embarrassment when he realized that he had started to cry. He quickly wiped his face and took a deep breath.

Yazoo stood up and dismounted his bike, slowly walked over to his older brother, who was obviously trying to hide his emotions like always, not wanting to appear like a baby. Once he reached where Loz was at, Yazoo put his hands on his shoulders and leaned his forehead upon his brothers'. "I promise Loz, I'm just fine." Yazoo lightly squeezed Loz's shoulders before letting go and bringing a hand up to his brother's face, wiping away what was left of the tears. "You shouldn't always try to hide your emotions Loz, you are lucky to have these. Yours are from love while Kadaj and I can only cry out of hate, pain and desperation. You do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Never be ashamed, you are stronger than I know you think you are."

Loz stared wide-eyed at Yazoo. He hadn't heard his brother say this much of his own accord in, well, he didn't know how long. He sure as hell wasn't going to doubt Yazoo's sincerity though since he never said anything that was not needed or meant, at least to where Loz was concerned. "Thank you brother, that means a lot coming from you, I think I needed that."

"Hmph, you'll always need it, the way you end up carrying on, crying like a baby over trivial things." Yazoo smirked as he saw a smile grow on Loz's face. Anyone nearby would have thought Yazoo was being an asshole since he wasn't laughing, his voice flat, but Loz knew different. He was just teasing him as always, nothing mean behind it. If Yazoo really didn't like him, he wouldn't even pay attention to him, unlike his brother, where insults would fly out of his mouth at the speed of light.

"Are we just about done with our love fest yet?" a cranky voice broke in. "I mean damn Yazoo, that was so filled with sweets I think I'm gonna be sick." Kadaj made a nasty face at his brothers, irritated with them for wasting his precious time, then crossed his arms and began tapping his foot impatiently.

Yazoo went silent and backed away from Loz, removing his hands from his brother's face and putting them back to his sides. _'Maybe I should just beat your face in, make it ten times as bad as mine…'_ thought Yazoo. With a silent growl, he slowly turned to face Kadaj, who now was sporting a snotty, triumphant look. "Fine" Was all Yazoo said, knowing it was pointless to say anything else. He made his way over to where Kadaj was standing in front of the building's door, him wishing he could just go and leave his brothers behind written all over his face. Yazoo just walked past him and opened the door, He always went first. Kadaj demanded it since he had the best senses.

They entered the building single file, their usual style. Yazoo in front, Kadaj the middle, Loz in the back. Kadaj enjoyed it, having his own personal bodyguards. Yazoo let out a hiss when he felt a sudden yank at his hair, causing him to fall back a step.

"By the way, you better not let that headache of yours affect our meeting. Try to not pass out until we leave the building if you can." Kadaj said to his brother, the statement laced with a warning, quickly letting go of his hair and pushing him forward again, smiling when he heard Yazoo just grind his teeth.

Yazoo ignored his brother, concentrating more on staying on his feet and walking in a straight line since now he was seeing spots from the sudden jerking action Kadaj had caused. _'It's more than just a headache you stupid fuck, but you already knew that…'_ Yazoo just counted in his head to keep calm as they headed towards President Shinra's office. They all knew where it was located. They had studied blue prints a long time ago; after all, it would be stupid to go into a place they could get lost in if they needed to escape. 'Ah finally' he thought, relieved to see the door to the office coming up. He was also a bit happy that his head had started to calm down from its pounding to just aching, last thing he wanted was to be out of it in their soon-to-be situation.

Once at the door, Yazoo put his hand on the doorknob and turned it, pushing it open as they all entered the room single file.

TBC


	6. VI

The tension in the office remained high as the Turks and President waited for their "company", at least that's how Rufus and Tseng were acting like what it was. For Reno, the tension was higher from his position seeing as how he knew his ass was already in trouble with his superiors. Just knowing he was going to have to be with Tseng later about his "reminding" was doing nothing to ease his mind one bit. Aside from all of this, he was going to have to endure the brother freak show without being able to beat the crap out of any of them. All Reno could hope was that Rufus' superiority complex wouldn't lead to their demise.

 _'How can he just sit there like that, knowing he has the perfect chance to kill them now and be worshipped by the civilians for it?'_ Reno thought to himself, completely confused at the motive behind this course of action. Sure, he knew that Rufus had wanted to use this moment to study and examine them but still, there had to be a deeper reason for this whole charade and he was going to find out. It could risk losing his job or a giant demotion with loss of pay but Reno was highly considering going through with it. _'I may be one of his Turks, and our job is to do what he says, but I'll be damned if I lose my life over some personal childish game.'_ Reno let out a frustrated sigh before quickly coming to attention as the door opened, amazed that he hadn't known they were there. He watched in silence as the three brothers walked in without giving any of them a glance. They continued in a straight line and only when they were all in their places across from the Turks and President Shinra did they finally turn around and face them. Reno was greatly dismayed that he was stuck with the one he hated standing across from him, staring at him with a blank face.

Yazoo was highly amused when he saw who he was standing across. Sure, he had seen this man on a few different occasions, usually when in the process of destroying a part of a town, but getting away before the Turk could catch them. They had been close enough once where the man had even yelled out some nasty comment at them. He had always loved how pissed the guy would get because he never was able to get into fights with any of the brothers. Another thing Yazoo had also taken note of after several of their encounters was that Reno seemed to have some personal dislike for him. He was always giving him the most glares; hell, even now he could tell that this Turk was extremely uncomfortable standing across from him, making this meeting already somewhat tolerable. _'I love how he always looks strangely at me. Right now, he's even a bit fidgety. He's trying to hide it but it's clear as day to me, how intriguing, especially since I'm pretty sure I know why he hates me the most…'_ Yazoo thought to himself as he continued to stare down the already tense man. He still didn't even know his name but was sure he would find it out soon.

"Well, come on, come on, I haven't got all day," Kadaj said, breaking the silence. He never did have a problem being the one to get things going. "So what the hell do you want from me to get this deal going since I know you aren't even close to wanting to give Mother over for free. You aren't even taking this opportunity to jump us, what do you have planned?" he asked suspiciously, and rightly so.

"Oh, do not worry, we will get to that soon enough" the calm and calculating voice of President Shinra replied. "I was just wanting to get the preliminaries of introducing ourselves to each other taken care of, it would be rude not to, after all, you must know who you are conversing with." Rufus said this all so eloquently that it was almost as if he was treating this as friends over for lunch, not a dangerous situation that could meet his end.

Kadaj took in an angry breath, not liking the smug look on the President's face; all there because he knew that the clone couldn't argue with him. "Fine, what the fuck ever" he grumbled. "To my right is Loz, only does what I tell him since his brainless ass can't think for himself, so don't even try to make deals with him. To my left is Yazoo, the know-it-all who thinks he's better than everyone else so won't lower himself to socialize. If I were you, I wouldn't even try to talk to him since he might as well be a mute. Is that good enough for you, your Majesty?" Kadaj snickered, knowing how much that would piss Yazoo off but he didn't care, his brother had been asking for it today so why should he even bother trying to be civil.

Yazoo had been mentally blocking his brother's voice out, only really half-assed paying attention to what they were talking about. He could care less about the snotty voice that ranted; besides, he was happily amused with his current "harassment" of the man across for him. This whole time he had done nothing but stare the man down, knowing that Reno was getting more and more riled with every minute that passed. It was like waving a treat in front of a dog, just keeping it that inch away so it could never have it, knowing that the dog would never accept that and walk away. It would go and go, anger festering inside, nearing the point of ignoring it all and just attack to get its well-deserved treat.

The fun for Yazoo soon ended when he heard Kadaj mention Loz's name, naturally protective of his brother, put his full attention on what was going on. Yazoo was definitely not approving of what he heard next, the belittling of Loz near making him break, not forgetting the one directed his way either. Yazoo's head immediately snapped his head to his right when Kadaj was insulting Loz, his heart hurting when he saw the look on his face. Loz was about to cry seeing as how Kadaj had never spoken that way of him, not knowing really how to respond. Yazoo's muscles tensed, near jumping his asshole brother on the spot but quickly catching himself, not wanting to start any problems. He saw the smirk on Kadaj's face but luckily kept himself in check even though he wanted nothing more than to remove it permanently.

Reno couldn't help but snicker at Kadaj's comments, especially at how Yazoo reacted to them. At the same time though, he couldn't really say he approved of how the guy spoke of them since they had done nothing but help him the whole time. "Damn, he has issues." quietly muttering to himself. Reno's attention was brought elswhere when Yazoo's head turned quickly, hair shifting momentarily, exposing what was underneath. Dark bruises across his cheekbone that got more spread out the further they went back, as well as the split lip he hadn't taken notice of until now, since he had been so busy being irritated at being stared at. _'Poor baby's face got smashed up, not such a pretty boy now heh heh.'_ Before Reno could catch himself, he threw out a comment of his own. "What happened princess, fall off your bike?"

As if things weren't bad enough for Yazoo, the Turk had to add to the stress and snapped. In a split second he was a mere inch from Reno's face, the man himself having brought out and extended his EMR at impressive speed, ready to have his long awaited clash. Yazoo felt a little triumphant on how the smile on the Turk's face quickly dissolved when a certain realization hit him, which was that Yazoo hadn't willingly stopped in front of him, it was Kadaj's hand on his arm. That meant he had moved so quickly that Reno indeed wouldn't have had enough time to defend himself before getting at least one good slam to his own body if his brother hadn't stepped in.

Kadaj gripped hard into Yazoo's bicep, knowing how fast his brother could be, was lucky he stopped him in time. He sneered at Reno, fuming at the man for what he had said. "Who in the hell do you think you are, insulting my brother like that?" Kadaj said coldly, not missing for an instant that it was obvious the man was already beginning to regret his words along with a momentary confusion. The confusion was not misguided since the brother had only moments ago been doing the exact same thing. "If anybody is going to insult my brothers it's going to be me, not some lowlife worthless piece of Shinra garbage, or anyone else for that matter."

Reno couldn't help but be stunned at Kadaj's revealing of his twisted logic, he could tell that even Yazoo's sudden defeated look showed how unwanted this behavior was, as well as most likely happening on a regular basis. _'What a fucking prick, I can't believe he would treat his own family that way, especially for how much they help him out. They could leave him at any time but are still here, I would think he'd be a bit more appreciative of them. Selfish snot needs a good ass-kicking.'_ From this whole display Reno had the feeling that the damage that was done to Yazoo's face wasn't some bike accident and much to his chagrin found himself feeling a bit bad for what he had said, but just a little, he hated them all and felt they deserved to die so didn't linger on that thought for long.

Showing an amazing amount of self-control, Rufus remained in his current position, behind his desk with his hands still crossed. He looked over to Tseng who he could tell was thinking the exact same things he was, that this was not going out at all as they expected. First, he wasn't expecting the uncaring way Kadaj had talked about his brothers, they were apart of each other in the end. Second, Rufus couldn't even believe what Kadaj had said to Reno on how, basically, only he is allowed to treat his brothers like shit. Last of all, Rufus could not believe that Reno had done what he did, especially with knowing what trouble he was already in with Tseng. Rufus shook his head slightly at Tseng's questioning look, knowing it was if he should remove Reno from the room with his own two hands. Reno was already going to be seriously reprimanded about what he had earlier said about Rufus, but he could also understand where Reno's edginess was coming from. He would talk to him later about his misconduct and just leave it at that. Rufus did have to admit though that he was pleasantly surprised at Kadaj's self-control. _'Even though he's a loose cannon he sure is keeping himself in check impressively. I would have expected him to have slit Reno's throat or the very least let Yazoo have a go at him. He's smart. He knows that if he lets any fights go on that it will have a serious effect on his current agenda. He may be the youngest but I can definitely see where the qualities are at and why he's the leader. This will definitely be interesting, studying them all. I really am curious on why his brothers follow him since he behaves this way. Is it simply out of duty? Or, possibly, since they are technically all as one they wouldn't be able to live without each other whether they like it or not? There are so many possibilities in there. I need to find out what makes them tick.'_ Rufus just sat quietly, enveloped in his thoughts while waiting for the situation to resolve itself. He knew that saying anything at the moment would only irritate Kadaj further and he didn't want that.

Kadaj continued to glare at Reno, making sure that the damn Turk got the point of how lucky he was that he was keeping the situation from going any further. He then looked down for a moment at Reno's hand, the one that held onto the EMR. He looked back up to Reno, satisfied that the man had taken the hint, and though upset at admitting defeat by it, retracted his weapon and put it back into his jacket. "Now that's a good boy." Kadaj said sweetly before turning his attention to his brother who had relaxed his muscles and simply waiting for the next command. He smiled shortly at Yazoo, enjoying the knowledge that Reno's comment had struck a sore spot since it was just another reminder of what had happened a bare two hours ago. Enough was enough though and all good things had to come to an end since he did have a main purpose for being here. "You, go back to where you were." Kadaj let go of Yazoo's arm when he got a small nod of compliance, his brother swiftly turning around and going back to his previous position. Kadaj gave a dramatic sigh and walked back over to stand in front of Rufus once more, giving the man a gracious smile. "My apologies President but it seems sadly that not only you, but I as well, have some incompetent children in our charge. Hopefully this doesn't affect what we planned on discussing."

Rufus just waved it off, returning a small smile of his own to Kadaj. "No, do not worry; after all, it was one of my own that instigated this. You and your brother cannot be blamed for the actions that were made for it. It is I that owes you an apology since I was the one who invited you over only for you to have to experience such an ill-mannered greeting." Rufus couldn't help but pause and look over at Reno, smirking at him when he saw his Turk suddenly look away and grumble under his breath. Rufus had purposely mentioned the word manners as a reminder of what was still to greet him later on, he really didn't want to let Reno think he had forgotten about it as well as Tseng's tight, clenched jaw spoke for itself. He then turned back to face Kadaj once more. "I can only say that I am grateful that you have decided to give this meeting a chance to continue even after this unintended but still unfortunate display of professionalism."

Kadaj nodded back, his smile still plastered to his face, loving how The President was continuing the pleasantries as well as the slight possible embarrassment on his side from his Turk's uncalled for display. This really was definitely turning out to be full of surprises. Kadaj could only hope the negotiations went smoothly with no more interruptions. He doubted there really would be any since it was greatly shown on the power Rufus held in his hands by how Reno had responded to his few words directed the man's way. The way the man had appeared to want to crawl into a hole to escape Tseng and his employer's heavy gazes said it all. Kadaj wasn't stupid though, if Reno had responded like that, even though he was an obvious asset to Rufus given the Turk's presence, had shrunk away. Kadaj took notice of how Reno did have the slight dread of Rufus; however, he did have more of a look of fear in his eyes when Tseng's gaze had fallen upon him. _'Hmm…I might have to watch out for that one. It seems Rufus holds him in high regards to be his personal bodyguard as well as the other damned guy being scared of him. Wonder what he's capable of...'_ Kadaj then spared a bare glance to Rude's direction having near forgotten the man's presence entirely. _'I'm not sure what to think of him. It's obvious he's shocked at the moron's behavior but other than that, he hasn't done shit, just stand there. He appears to be an asset more for his muscle that anything. No, matter though, will give Loz something decent to fight with when we eventually get around to it.'_

Reno just chewed on his lip, only thinking of all the things that might possibly be following when he met up later with Tseng and hoping among hopes that heavy bodily damage was not one of them. He knew it wasn't going to be good since Rufus was even reminding him of being reprimanded for his behavior. _'Shit, I really fucked up this time. Not only did I get caught insulting Rufus and getting into hot water with that, I lost control and insulted his precious prized possessions, well at least he hopes it's what they'll be, I'm sure of it. Fuck, fuck, FUCK…Oh my GOD, that guy is kissing the freak's ass. How in the hell can he do that? I would walk out right here and now, just give up my job, but I don't want to before I get a chance to destroy at least one of the brothers, preferably that prissy bitch. Ha ha, even though he did scare the crap outta me, the look on his face when I said what I did right before he jumped at me…Priceless.'_ Reno mentally congratulated himself on how he knew that it really had gotten the clone good for a moment, how his face had paled, accompanied with a tinge anguish. Yes, he had really enjoyed that look.

One thing did quickly bring him out of his inner celebration was how the clone was acting now. Reno had thought the creep never showed emotions before, but even though he never thought it possible, Yazoo was showing even less. After the whole ordeal was finished, he had actually become withdrawn, not even staring the Turk down anymore for entertainment value. All he was doing was looking slightly down, not really looking at anything in particular, with an obvious look on his face of wanting to be as far from all of this as humanly possible. _'Interesting…He doesn't even seem enthusiastic about helping his brother out. I thought they were all happily following the little twat but it seems that's not the case. I might have to keep an eye on him after all, make sure he doesn't blow anything up in case he decides to want to piss his brother off at our expense…'_ Reno dropped his analyzing when he heard Rufus speak.

"Well, now that we have all settled down and the problem resolved, let us carry on for what we have initially met for."

TBC

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Wow. Reno is in hell of deep shit


	7. VII

Yazoo, at a loss for what to do, decided to count all of the different shades of brown showing on the wooden floor. He knew it would take forever and looked forward to it. Anything to keep him from thinking about the current situation, but try as he might, it kept flowing back in. _'Why does he do this, why can't he just kill them all and just go look for Mother once he's done. It's not like they're going to hand him golden tickets to a candy store of Jenova heads…Most likely they'll just fuck with him and hide some information anyway, it's not like he'd be losing any possible getting of information if he killed them. It would just make it easier, them not being in the way to stop us.'_ Yazoo couldn't help but circle around the basic facts, so full of regular common sense and the fact that his brother had happily ignored every one of them, infuriated him to no end. _'I should leave right now…but I can't, not without Loz. Shit, how much more of this can I put up with though, and hopefully convince Loz to leave? I don't know if I'll be able to hold out until then. What if he wants to stay…I love my brother but if he chooses to, I'll have no choice but to leave him behind…I need to find HER first, before Kadaj, I can't let him have her…I just…need to get away from here-'_ Yazoo made a low gasp, his thoughts halted as his head started pulsing again.

**_'You stupid child. So useless. So worthless. Why you are still living puzzles me. It's ok though, Sephiroth will come and fix you right up, put you in your place. That is, if he even allows you to keep breathing…'_ **

_'Oh no…please, go away, I don't think I can deal with this again.'_ Yazoo pleaded inside, the throbbing in his head growing once more, his fingers twitching at his sides as he tried to remain calm.

**_'Please? So polite you are. Such a shame your number of killings aren't as beautiful as your manners. Lazy, lazy. Maybe some encouragement? Mmm no, not just yet, things are just getting started. If you don't want to deal with this then maybe you should just stop fighting me.'_ **

Yazoo trembled inwardly at the voice that grated inside his head, the one he knew so well, the one he had never wanted to hear again, the one to whom it belonged that he feared most, Mother. He looked sideways at his brother talking to the President, having problems concentrating on what was going on, everything becoming echoes in his head. Yazoo just tried to keep calm; he didn't want to deal with Kadaj's temper if he did something.

xXx

"About time too." Kadaj said to Rufus when the man had said they were going to begin. He was eager to get it going; there had been too many setbacks before getting to this point.

Rufus smiled. "Yes, of course you are right about you not getting Mother for free, but I do not intent to make attaining her impossible. I haven't made a preset deal for this meeting. I thought it would be more productive if you were a part of putting this all together."

"Just get to the damn point already, I'm becoming short on patience." Kadaj snapped as he crossed his arms.

"Yes, yes, as you wish. Truth is, I don't want to kill any of you, I am interested in learning about you and to see exactly what it is that you want. I do have a hard time believing that once you get her that you will just destroy the planet, it wouldn't get you anything really." Rufus smiled back at Kadaj, knowing that he had probably confused, as well as pissed off the remnant.

"If you don't want to kill us, then what do you want us around for?" Kadaj growled out, already liking the situation less and less. "I have no intentions on making friends, as for Mother, what she wishes is what will happen. If she demands death and destruction then she shall have it."

Rufus nodded in understanding, it was the answer he had expected. He really didn't care about having known the answers before asking the questions, he had his reasons for doing this all, as long as Kadaj was talking to him he was giving Rufus the opportunity to study him. The President already had the clone playing into his hands.

"Oh, by the way, before this goes any further, I know what you're doing. I'm not stupid. You are dragging this on with stupid quizzing that I know you don't give a shit about, you're just using this as time to stare at me and my brothers aren't you? You're trying to see how long we can be forced into a position without snapping. Well guess what asshole, we've been put in situations a hell of a lot worse than this on numerous occasions, so if you think that you can wear me down you are seriously mistaken." Kadaj said coolly. "And don't even bring up the fact I said I was running out of patience because it really has nothing to do with how we handle shit. No one likes to be screwed with after they have already shown interest in participating in a particular subject. I suggest you begin to choose your words wisely from here on in."

 _'Very nice…'_ Rufus nodded, his tight-lipped smile still showing. "My mistake." He was definitely becoming more interested in the remnants with every passing moment. _'Amazing, I asked him only one question and he picked all of that up from it. He is definitely of the General's genes I must have these clones. If Hojo's work hadn't been lost when the labs had been blown sky-high I wouldn't really need to bother with this, then again, with the General's blood…'_ Rufus brought his hands up and rested his chin on them. "Well, since there really is no way of going around this without getting to my initial main request…all I wish to have is a blood sample from each of you."

"Are you senile?" Kadaj's eyes wide in disbelief. "You want blood samples from us. What the fuck do you want it for if you already have Jenova's head to play with? There are plenty of cells to go around I'm sure, and it's not like you don't have any How To Make A Clone recipe in your stock somewhere."

Rufus sighed. "I understand what you are talking about. For one, we might have Jenova, but we do not have the General's…Sephiroth's genes, and you all do. Yes, it is true about the information and "ingredients" being in our stock, but that was until the labs had been blown up. Somehow everything disappeared from all databases, all of Shinra's computers, and not just that particular section." Rufus leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair. "I know how Hojo worked, if he was going to be on his death bed or disappear without a word he would have been the one responsible for it, he would never want to share his secrets with anyone, but he was murdered, he had no chance to delete everything like that." This time it was Rufus' turn to be confused when he saw the strange and surprised look grow on Kadaj's face. "What?"

A small giggle came out before Kadaj let the President in on what he was finding so funny. "Damn Yazoo, you really did get it all just like you said you would. Must say I'm impressed, didn't think you'd be able to in such a short time. Maybe you aren't as useless as I thought you were." The whole time he spoke he kept his eyes locked on Rufus for his reaction. The President's face had the look of awe on it. Kadaj knew that the man thought they were intelligent, but most likely didn't expect this, his brother having hacked and cleaned out all locations of Shinra's system from anything of Hojo's works. "Well, seems like what happened three years ago has ended up being to my advantage. Isn't this a wonderful change of events..." Kadaj rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "Guess I should thank Yazoo" he commented, after a moment of hesitation.

xXx

**_'Hear this child? You are being praised for your selfishness. You didn't do it to keep anyone from making more clones like you had told your brothers…You just didn't want anyone to find out about certain experiments that involved only you. So useless, so selfish, what shall I do with you?'_ **

_'Stop it Mother…I just couldn't…they can't know about it…can't find out…won't ever find out…'_

"Aah…" A barely audible moan came out of Yazoo as he moved his hands up to hold his head as the pain increased. A few sharp streaks of pain sliced through, causing him to gasp and squeezed his eyes shut. He started to shake, his body feeling of cold sweats as his temperature shot through the roof.

Reno, who was still trying to process through his head that Rufus had just asked for blood from the bastard, as well as pretty much admitting to having already checked the systems for this information before starting this bullshit, couldn't help but laugh inside. The fact that Yazoo had been the one responsible for all the years of information vanishing without a trace. They would have understood the humor in it if they had seen Rufus' face when he went to all of the different sectors, calling people of his company from the country, the nation, the world. Frantic and hoping to retrieve any tidbit of information somewhere. _'Ha ha, the President had been so pissed, he was yelling at everybody. Kinda made me think of some retarded rabid raccoon who lost his apples…Jesus, these analogies in my head need to stop, I'm making bad mental images for myself again.'_ Only after Reno had accomplished his image of Rufus with ears and a tail, complete with stripes and mask while foaming at the mouth, did he catch the movement across from him. "What the hell…" he muttered. Reno was finding himself looking at the once, seemingly unbreakable clone, presently crumble before him. Yazoo's already light complexion had taken on a sickly look, some of his hair sticking to his skin while his breathing had become labored. It was getting to the point that the man actually had moved slightly closer to the wall to put his hand against it to support his shaking body while the other hand clutched his face. "Uh, boss…"

Rufus, so caught up in his findings that were far beyond his expectations, almost missed Reno speaking out. He faced him, relaxed as ever. "Yes?" Well, he was relaxed, but that flew away when he saw the reason Reno had wanted his attention. Everyone had been so busy staring at Kadaj that they had forgotten about the rest of the room. "What happened?" Rufus asked nervously as he stood up out of his chair.

"Hey I didn't do a damn thing, he did this all himself." Reno hastily said as he put his hands in front of him defensively.

"Oh for fuck's sake!" Everyone paused and turned their attention back to Kadaj, once more stunned at what was coming out of his mouth. "You stupid ass, I told you to wait until after the meeting to go loopy. You are interrupting everything again. GOD you are so WORTHLESS."

No one really knew how to respond to that, so remained silent a few moments before a calm, smooth voice broke in. "Does he need a doctor?" Tseng quietly asked as he tried to figure out the Remnant's odd behavior. He thought he had heard him mumble a few words here and there in the past couple of minutes, but more to himself than anyone around him so Rufus had pay no mind.

Kadaj's eyes shone with delight at how the magic word 'doctor' had gotten Yazoo's attention, causing his brother to jerk his head up, silently begging for Kadaj to not do what he was sure had planned. With a malicious smile, Kadaj turned to Tseng. "Yes, I think that would be for the best. This has been going on since before we came…" Kadaj snickered at how much paler Yazoo's face managed to get. "So sad seeing him suffer like that. Please call a doctor down to have a loo-" that was how far he was able to go before getting suddenly cut off.

"NO! He doesn't need one!" A strong and powerful voice spoke for the first time.

Kadaj's eyes widened in disbelief at what he had just heard, it was half from the fact that he was being disputed with, and the other half of it was whose voice was saying it. Kadaj turned around to face Loz, his anger already rising. "What the hell did you just say?"

Loz became slightly hesitant, wondering at the wisdom of his present, as well as soon to come, actions that he was going to take. He took a deep breath and clenched his fists. "I said, he doesn't need a doctor, and you know it." Loz then turned to Tseng and frowned. "A doctor is the last thing Yazoo needs, this is nothing new. Kadaj is just doing this to be mean to him. He's been mean to him all day." Loz frowned when he looked back to Kadaj's unforgiving expression.

"Who the hell do you think you are, suddenly jumping in and telling us how it's going to be? I'm the leader here; your job is to do as I say! Don't you dare baby hte bitch just because he's hurting" Kadaj snarled out. "He doesn't deserve it."

Loz stared quietly at Kadaj and took in another breath. "Shut up Kadaj. Enough is enough!" and before he had a chance to chicken out and cower back, Loz shoved his brother out of the way so he could get to Yazoo.

By this time, Yazoo was dizzy and almost fell over, only to be stabled by a strong pair of hands. He shook his head, trying to get the lingering echo of the voice to leave while looking up to see who it was. The soft and caring eyes that met his almost made him want to cry with relief, that is, if Kadaj didn't look so pissed. "Thank you Loz" Yazoo said to his brother as Loz brought Yazoo's arm up and around his neck, letting him lean on his body. Yazoo glanced to Kadaj and then back to Loz. "I think you should get back over there. I don't want you to get into trouble for this," He said sadly. "I'll be ok, my head has stopped."

Tseng raised an eyebrow at Kadaj, pausing on getting ready to call in some assistants until he was certain at what was going on. He was figuring that there would be no need, plus the fact that it would bring more people into an already unstable environment, possibly causing more strain on everything.

Kadaj ground his teeth and closed his eyes, contemplating on if he should just kill his brothers now or just wait until later. It infuriated him that he needed them around, even if it was only for extra manpower. He slowly nodded to himself, opened his eyes, and searched out the President's own. "I think that you can have the blood samples, only we do it my way."

Rufus had to do all he could to contain himself at the excitement running through his body. Sure, he had been worried about the other clone but now, there were more important matters going on, as well as it seemed that Yazoo's problem had gone away. "Yes, I'm ready, tell me what you need."

Kadaj, turned and while watching his brothers answered back "You may bring one medic up here to obtain the proper samples. There will be absolutely no needles involved as well as any other instruments; I don't want to end up poisoned. I have a knife in my pocket, it will suffice."

Rufus smiled back, the terms were very acceptable. As long as it got him what he wanted he wasn't about to argue. "That will be just fine." Rufus moved his hand over to a small device and pushed in a button. "I desire a nurse from the clinic in my office to collect some blood samples. Only the vials and proper containers are needed, everything else is already in here. You have five minutes." Rufus didn't wait for a reply before he pushed the button once more, ending communications.

"Oh, I forgot to mention, since I am being so nice as to be giving you this wondrous gift…I also want to be granted free roam of your building and surrounding areas for today. I'm bored and need something to do. I don't think you need to be concerned about anything going missing, that would affect me getting Mother, right?" _'Little weasel, what the hell does he really want, no way he would just give her over like that.'_ Kadaj contemplated as he flashed an innocent smile.

 _'He's good.'_ Rufus noted at how sharp Kadaj's mind was. _'He knows it's a sketchy deal, he wants a chance to go through everything himself before leaving. Just so, he knows we aren't keeping her from him in this building. Even by doing this makes him able to pick up information about her or her whereabouts should I decide to back out on my deal later. I want him so bad… all of them'_ Rufus jnodded, a warm smile matching Kadaj's. "You may come and go as you please." His elated when he saw Kadaj's eyes spark with eagerness.

A knock on the door took Rufus' attention for a moment. "You may enter." He called out, a nurse entering once given permission, holding only what was asked for, a medic kit that would hold the necessary vials and containers. "Come over here next to my desk please." The woman silently did as she had been instructed. She was of average height, brown eyes and hair, in her 30's. The look of a well-experienced person who had been born for a job. She took the room and its inhabitants in as she made her way to the desk, her professionalism not allowing her to waver or even look shocked at the company. Rufus definitely had only the best under his hand. "You will be instructed as we go along. Kadaj is going to give you blood samples, as well as are the brothers. All you will need is to properly contain them once given, understood?"

"Understood President Rufus Shinra" The lady said with a bow of the head, relaying that it was clearly understood that she was to do nothing other than this. In silence she set up a small sanitary cloth on the edge of his desk, donned her proper gloves, where then she proceeded to set the needed supplies up, including astringents and gauze for proper clean-ups. It was only moments before she had three vials out, all in a row, containers next to those. In less than two minutes, the woman had turned the end of the President's desk into what looked like a real nurse's one. Once the set-up had been completed, she stood up straight and made eye contact with Kadaj, without hesitation, introduced herself.

"My name is Mandy, head nurse of sector 6, level B, the science division. I have brought for you the requested items as well as other sanitary items to use, or to keep, if you so desire." At this, she smoothly moved her hand along everything, indicating that he was allowed to do as he pleased with any of it.

Kadaj was definitely impressed at the woman's proficient manner. He was also impressed that someone this skilled could look this good. He openly looked her up and down. The way the layered hair hung slightly passed her shoulders, smaller chestnut highlights streaking through, and her dark brown eyes matching these colors. Kadaj moved his gaze lower, taking in the soft complexion of her, chest that wasn't too big, a slim waist, and perfect hips and long legs to complete the package. _'Those scrubs look cute on her…'_ Shinra knew how to pick them. Being the genetics he was from, as well the age of 19 not anywhere close to helping, Kadaj's hormones were raging. Sure, he may have sexually harassed his brother here and there but he did prefer women, sometimes finding himself wishing Yazoo was one for that very reason. After all, his brother had long flowing silky hair, porcelain skin and graceful to boot. Kadaj hated the sexual frustration that would come of it, the perfection he wouldn't mind taking again and again(just minus a lovely set of breasts and round ass to grab) was the wrong sex. Sometimes contemplated doing away with his brother just so he wouldn't have to deal with the continuous distractions Yazoo caused, reminding him of what he didn't have, but very much needed.

"Hmm…Mandy, that's a very pretty name for a pretty woman." Kadaj sweetly complimented as he moved around to where she was, stopping in front of her when only inches away, his hip leaning on the desk. "Sounds a bit like candy to me…" he teased, and then went in for the kill, leaning forward to whisper into her ear. "Are you that sweet?" He snickered when he could see her pulse quicken, now trying to maintain a straight face. What made all of this even more entertaining was that he caught a glance of Rufus, just to see if he was upset by this, only to find that the man was amused as much as he was.

xXx

"Loz, you can let go of me now, I'll be fine." Yazoo quietly told his brother, who in response tightened his grip on his wrist. "Loz, please, I don't want you to get in trouble, go over there."

"I'm already in trouble Yazoo." Loz said, making it clear he had no intentions of going over.

Yazoo sighed and let his head rest on his brother's shoulder once more. "Actually, you aren't. I am."

"These headaches aren't your fault. I don't know why he's so cruel to you about them." Loz quietly replied, his eyes watering again.

"Yes they are." Yazoo frowned at the disbelieving look he was getting from his brother, but he knew it was true. If it weren't for the way he behaved in situations and handled things, they would never be there.

Loz swallowed hard and then released Yazoo's arm, letting it slide off his neck. Turning then to his brother, he yanked him into a bear hug, his giant frame slightly shaking from sadness and anger. "How you were made is NOT your fault." Saying this in such a way that made it clear he wouldn't be told otherwise. Loz may have not known what Yazoo was talking about but in the end it was all the same, he couldn't be blamed for any of this, as much as everyone might try to convince Yazoo otherwise. They had all been dumped into an unwanted circumstance, not one had more control over their lives at the time than the other.

Yazoo nodded back, eyes wide at Loz's forceful scolding. He hadn't gotten something like that from his brother in a long time. He must have been pretty stressed and upset to get to that point. "Okay Loz," he offered in agreement and relaxed in his brother's arms. Loz paused for a moment before letting go, the way his shoulders hung made it clear on how weary his brother had become. Would his brother be able to hold out until this came to an end? It came to Yazoo that he wasn't sure, which meant he was going to have to speed up his plan.

Reno was getting more and more confused and frustrated. First, his asshole employer was letting the sicko get close to Mandy and tease her, but that also the clone he wanted to hate with a murderous passion was beginning to turn into the one he favored. Reno still hated them all, but was just finding that Yazoo had become tolerable, unlike Kadaj who reeked of evil. _'Look at both of those bastards, torturing Mandy like that. The freak is flirting with her and Rufus is finding this funny. He's going to let that prick do anything he wants, just so he can play his games, disgusting.'_ Reno's respect for his boss was quickly going down the drain, he couldn't help but wonder what was going through Tseng's head about this, that man surely couldn't have been thinking highly of this either. Reno searched his face but didn't see any emotion showing approval or disapproval, just standing next to Rufus with his hands clasped at his front. _'What the hell is going on here…?'_

xXx

Mandy didn't know what to do, nervous at having someone this dangerous near nuzzling at her ear, her boss watching and not saying anything to stop it for her sake. She was almost wondering who was worse, the one who was openly teasing her, or the one letting it happen. What Mandy didn't like was how her body was responding. As wrong as she knew it was, she couldn't help but be slightly turned on, hell he was a gorgeous guy. All of them were. Against her control, all thanks to human nature, her temperature rose slightly and her cheeks had taken a light pink hue to them. "U-uhm, shall we begin?"

"I guess another time…" Kadaj murmured and stepped back, a smile on his face, his interest in her doubling. He needed to get laid, badly, and with a girl this time. "Yes, I guess we should start. I'll go first." With that, he took his knife out of his pocket and switched it open, then pulled the glove off his right hand. "So…where do you want this to go?" he asked.

"Oh! Pardon me, here" Mandy quickly grabbed a vial and held it out for him. "How would you like me to go about this?" she asked nervously, after all, this was quite a strange way to collect blood samples.

"Just hold it, I'll take care of the rest." Kadaj brought the blade up to the palm of his hand and proceeded to drag the tip across it, making a cut about two inches long, stopping when the blood began to well up. "There we go." He said as he angled his hand vertically, making it just right to where the blood was running down his first finger, dripping freely into the vial. "Let me know when to stop."

Mandy's eyes widened as she watched Kadaj cut himself without even flinching, finding it a bit disturbing at how his eyes seemed drawn to the blood running, as if he had a fixation for it. She waited until it come up to the proper level in the vial and reached over for a decent sized piece of gauze, placing it to the palm of his hand with some pressure. "That will do perfectly, thank you." Without thinking, since it was habit, she grabbed a sanitary wipe and cleaned off his hand quickly, then replaced the gauze once more. "May I?" Mandy asked politely, pointing to his knife, wanting to sanitize it as well. She was a bit astonished when he didn't even hesitate to hand it to her, spinning it quickly in his hand to give it to her handle first.

Kadaj was still smiling away, completely content at all the attention he was getting from her. "Do whatever you need to." He replied softly, almost giggling when she turned a bit pink again. He may have been being polite to her but it was also obvious he was flirting with her. He became even more excited when she reached out for his hand and pulled it her way, bandages ready and started wrapping up his hand. He knew they weren't necessary, that the cut would be completely healed well before the end of the day, but who was he to stop the gorgeous woman from touching him? Kadaj hadn't gotten this much feminine attention willingly given in God knows how long, he wasn't about to cut it short now. When she finished she handed the now clean knife back to him with a timid smile.

Kadaj couldn't believe himself, he was acting like a kid with a crush, then again, technically this was the case, and he seemed to be completely infatuated with her. "Thank you, it looks great." Still being polite to Mandy. He stepped back from her, a little bummed that it had ended. "Hey Loz, get over here, I'm sure the bitch can stand on her own now." He called over to his brother while he put his glove back on, careful not to shift the bandage. Loz had already started walking over to the desk before Kadaj had to say anything more, Yazoo having persuaded him to go over.

Mandy had to look up even further when the next brother had come over; Loz being around 6 foot tall was a big difference from her height of 5'7". His more muscular body made him appear even more massive compared to Kadaj even though he was only about two inches shorter. "Hello, I guess we go with you next." Mandy felt a little stupid saying that since it was obvious to begin with, just she didn't really know what to say to him. She waited patiently as Kadaj took the liberty of removing his brother's glove, adding a 'baby' comment in there when he went to cut Loz's thumb, the man turning his head with his eyes squeezed shut so as not to see it happen, followed by a small whimper. Mandy then repeated what she had done with Kadaj, cleaning and wrapping up the cut as well as cleaning off the knife. "There you go, all done." She said to Loz, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. A small "thank you", made it out his lips. He didn't wait any longer, turned around, and quickly went back over to his first original position.

Kadaj looked over to him and sighed. "Loz, I'm sorry for what I said about you earlier, I didn't mean it. I'm just really stressed along with our brother not cooperating, I guess I just wasn't thinking." Loz looked at him for a moment and then nodded. Kadaj gave a small smile before turning around to face Yazoo, who was currently leaning against the wall while staring at the floor. "Hey Lazy, get over here, now." Kadaj ordered with a snap of the fingers in the air.

xXx

'108, 109, 110, 111, 112, 12-damnit…' Yazoo mentally cursed, having lost count of the colors on the wooden slats at his feet, so many shades of browns and tans there were, using this to focus on instead of the rest of the room. He looked up through his bangs, eyes barely visible but everything of how he thought of Kadaj's way of calling him over was showing in his eyes. "Sure thing, master' Yazoo mumbled under his breath and pushed off the wall. _'anything to just get this done and over with, Jesus…'_

"Fucking prick"

Catching the barely audible insult, Yazoo's head snapped over to Reno and smirked. "My thoughts exactly." His face going blank once more before turning back to face his destination, pausing a moment to stare at his brother before moving.

Reno froze when Yazoo had looked at him, expecting to get ratted on but sure as hell didn't expect the clone to agree with him. One thing Reno noticed when Yazoo had looked back to Kadaj for a moment that Yazoo's demeanor seemed to darken momentarily, his eyes a bit brighter than they had been. Before he could get a really good look at it, his demeanor went back to normal before he started walking. _'Ok…the brat pisses me off to no end, but that one still scares the shit out of me…fucking eyes were creepy before, but now, damn.'_ Reno gave himself a small shake, trying to get the image out of his head.

Yazoo walked over to Kadaj, stopping a few feet in front of him, none too thrilled that Kadaj was merrily dangling the knife in the air, a giant grin to match. Yazoo reached out. "Give the knife to me, I'll do it myself."

 _'Wow, and here I thought the other one was tall…this one has got to be at least 6'3"…he's gorgeous…'_ Mandy observed as he made his way over, she couldn't help but be taken in by Yazoo. The way he gracefully moved towards them, his hair that hung past the middle of his back softly swaying with each step, she felt herself blushing all over again. _'Being single sucks...'_ flew through her mind. She was getting the feeling that once off her shift and home she was going to have to take some "personal time" with herself.

Kadaj's eyes narrowed slightly, not happy about his brother's attempt in getting away from letting Kadaj have his fun. "What makes you think I'll let you? For all I know you might stab me with it." He watched, as Yazoo did nothing but give a stare back with an 'are you done yet' look on his face. Kadaj looked out the corner of his eye at Mandy and immediately got riled up when he saw the reaction she was giving to his brother's presence. In the heat of his jealousy, he jerked his arm back and then planted his fist in Yazoo's face, reopening up the split on his bottom lip, more than good enough for it to start bleeding again. "There, problem solved. Go give her a blood sample now." Kadaj smirked and walked away, no longer feeling it necessary to be over by the desk.

Mandy jumped at the unexpected actions of Kadaj. From how he had been behaving only minutes ago, she wouldn't have seen him outright punching one of his brothers, especially when he had just finished apologizing to the other one for saying unkind things. She looked over to Rufus, to see if he was going to put a stop to any of this, not wanting to believe her eyes when she saw that the President hadn't budged an inch. He seemed to be in awe of the clones, content to watch them and their antics, so she patiently waited.

Yazoo's head was still facing to the side, obviously trying to keep quiet, his knuckles cracking while he clenched his fists. _'That fucking bastard. Just wait brother, once I get a hold of Mother…you'll get what's coming to you.'_ Yazoo let out a deep breath and looked at the nurse who seemed mortified at the events that had just taken place, but he couldn't blame her. He stepped forward, closing the small gap between them and waited for her to get her work done with; he wasn't fond of the feeling of the warm blood trickling down the side of his mouth and chin. Yazoo tilted his head at her when she was looking a bit uncomfortable. He tried to think of what could be the matter when it hit him, she wasn't able to see properly at what she was going to be doing. He looked down at her supplies on the desk and gently pulled at the towel they were lying on and moved them a bit away, making room for him to sit down on it without knocking anything over.

"Thank you" Mandy quietly said, grateful he had understood the problem. "Uh, sorry…I have to…" she said awkwardly while nervously reaching out to move his hair away from his face. She couldn't believe how soft it was, moving easily in her fingers. If some of her friends saw this they would die of envy, always trying the latest hair products to get this very result. Mandy had to repress a smile, then reprimand herself for letting her mind wander, especially at a time like this. A quick intake of breath immediately followed when she put a piece behind his ear. "Oh my." Mandy's fingers hovered near his face, afraid to touch it, shocked by the damage she saw. "Are…are you ok?"

"You might want to hurry, it will stop bleeding soon." Was Yazoo's only answer, not wanting to discuss it. In fact, get his mind as far from the topic as possible. He could only imagine at the bruises that had shown up since then, along with the pre-existing ones having got darker, he felt lucky that his hair hid it all.

"Oh, yes." Mandy got the hint and held the last vial against his chin, waiting for it to fill with the blood dripping down from the cut. She was shocked to find that she actually felt very comfortable around him. Kadaj had gotten to her yes, but he still had an air of danger and instability with him that kept her nervous, Yazoo's calm demeanor a complete opposite. She supposed it was also the fact it appeared that this one didn't even want to be here and could really care less about his brother's or Rufus' plans. She also felt more comfortable near Yazoo because he wasn't looking her up and down as his brother had been. Mandy could sense the wall up around him regardless, no doubt made to keep everyone else out, or to keep himself in. Perhaps it was both. That, in itself, was a warning sign of things that might come. Everyone has their limit, but those who create shells to separate them from the world tended to finally break out and a majority of the time they were the most dangerous. All that came to mind was that she hoped she wasn't around if or when it happened.

"Ok, I think that's good" Mandy said. She felt a bit sorry for him. Yazoo just nodded and sucked in the corner of his lip, waiting for it to stop bleeding, he wasn't fond of the taste of blood, unlike his brother who would most likely love to bathe in a pool of it. "Here, let me" and before she could think twice she found herself gently grabbing his chin and turning his face towards her own. She took a couple of wipes and cleaned all the blood, pausing briefly at his lip, finding it amusing at how he was looking down, attentively watching her hand. When she had paused, Yazoo looked up at her questioningly, wondering what was wrong. She smiled and gently touched his bottom lip, which in turn, just got an elegant brow raised before it dawned on him.

"Oh, sorry" he whispered and let the rest of his lip out of his mouth so she could finish. He continued to look down and watch her, intrigued at how gentle she was being since, after all, she did work for Shinra, as well as all he and his brothers had a bad reputation for being killers. As surprising as it was, it was a welcome change in pace for the day, helping his nerves settle down. Even more unexpected was the sudden cool and numbing feeling on his cut, the pulsing in it quickly going away. She had put a tiny bit of numbing agent on it, as well as something to stop the bleeding. "Thank you." He said quietly, still watching her curiously.

Mandy was taken aback by his thanks. Yes, the other brother had thanked her, but since this one was keeping himself so guarded it was quite unexpected. There was a bit of sadness, yet content, sounding at the same time. She could tell that this brother was sincere, not lacing his words with sweetness to sound overdramatic like Kadaj had done. For a killer he had good manners. "No need to thank me, it's only my job." followed with a kind laugh, gently taking his hair back out from behind his ear and straightening it.

"Are you done yet?" whined a voice from across the room.

Yazoo looked over to see Kadaj currently leaning into a windowsill, his forehead leaning on the glass, looking down through the window at the buildings surrounding, no doubt deciding which ones he was going to raid first. "Hmph." He sounded and stood up from the desk and scanned around until he saw what he was looking for. Yazoo quickly bent down and grabbed the medic kit that was sitting not far from the nurse's legs. Once his hands were on it he set it upon the desk and began to put all of the tools and other equipment back into their proper places. Even the cleaners and gauze went to the proper slots and holders. He grabbed the vials, putting each one in its appropriate container, perfectly closing their seals. He grabbed one of the markers and wrote the names on the labels, along with the time and date as well. He was just about finished packing everything up when a comment stopped him short, his hand not far from grabbing the last of the supplies.

"Wow, these are one of a kind medic kits. Done this before?" Mandy teased, naturally not aware of why he had expert knowledge of how these things worked.

Images filled Yazoo's mind, all of them from different times, but all of them the same thing. Getting bandaged daily, so many kits used up on him, so many containers and labels made next to him, all countless times. As far as Yazoo was concerned, these kits were filled with nothing but blood and pain. He was puzzled as to why he was helping her clean up because it wasn't to get her as far away from him as soon as possible. He supposed that it was because she was the first, and most likely, the last, that had and ever would be like this towards him. He didn't want to forget about it. He wanted the image of a nice nurse or doctor in his head; maybe it would help the others disappear, though he knew he was only fooling himself. They would be there until the day he died; he could only hope they didn't follow him into the Life Stream, holding onto him for all eternity.

"I saw it done…a few times." Was all he said and quickly finished the rest.

"Well, you must have a great memory then." Mandy replied, then had a mental freeze. As she said, these were one of a kind kits, so how _did_ he know. _'I remember hearing these brothers attacked the area, specifically the medical quarter a few years back. That must be where he came across them'._ She noted the irony of a deadly killer willingly helping put her healing supplies away. "Thank you all the same." She smiled as Yazoo reached out and handed her the case all snapped and locked shut.

He couldn't help it and found the corner of his mouth quirk up, the closest thing to a smile that there ever was going to be, when she had reached out and took the kit from him. She looked to Rufus, nodded to him, and then turned to leave the room. Yazoo watched her go to the door, sad to see her go; she was the first normal thing he had been around in the near whole of his life. It hurt him when he finally figured out why it was that he liked her and would miss her so much. She was what he imagined a real mother to be. Soft, gentle, caring, and full of kind smiles. He tilted his head as he watched her go, making note to remember the image of her last honest smile given before exiting the room and closing the door behind her. _'Goodbye Mandy'_ he thought sadly from within, knowing that he would never see her again. Yazoo lowered his head, but not before giving Rufus a glare that would put anyone on edge, and walked away, back to where he had come from.

"Ugh, finally. Took you long enough." Kadaj said when he saw Yazoo go back to his spot. "So, Shinra, we done here?"

Rufus smiled and nodded his head. "Yes, for now we are. Feel free to go look around and see that I have nothing to hide from you. You will only have until midnight though; it is when I like to lock everything up, as well I think it is more than plenty enough time for you to be satisfied with your searching. As for the Jenova delivery, it will take a few days to get the proper arrangements made and get her on her way. I promise no more than a week's time."

Kadaj scowled at Rufus but could do nothing else for time being. "Fine then, can we leave now?" he asked, impatient as ever.

"Yes, oh wait, one moment." Rufus opened up a drawer and rummaged around until he found what he was looking for. "Here, you will need these." He said and held up three cards. "These are all access keys. They will work for any room that has a lock on it." While he explained this, he put each one in its own individual badge case to hang from a small cord so they could wear them around their necks. "There, one for each of you. Since it's only about 3 pm you will have 9 hours to search, please take your time."

"Sweet." Kadaj snickered as he grabbed the badges and tossed the other two to his brothers for them to catch. "Loz, Yazoo, pick a building to start in and just go from there. I'll take that section over there," he indicated, pointing the direction from the window. "Loz, you go that direction. Actually, Yazoo, you get to cover this building first and then move over to that section." Kadaj grinned wide at Yazoo's glare from having to search the building they were presently in. He wasn't really the social type and this building was full of people. Most of the Turks were in this particular building, as well as the President, he would have people eyeing him the whole time. "Well, go on, scoot." while making little hand motions at his brothers.

Loz nodded and left the room, leaving Yazoo continuing his glare at Kadaj. After a few seconds, Yazoo sighed, looked away from his brother, then swiftly left the room, slamming the door behind him.

"Children." Was all Kadaj said. He looked at the others in the room, gave a wave, and then left the room, leaving everyone behind in stunned confusion. They had been in a room with the remnants for a little over an hour and a lot had happened, silence hung in the air, all of them still caught up in their thoughts about the situation. That was, until Reno broke the silence with a long whistle.

"Yeah, Boss, I don't think the tall one likes you very much." Reno chimed but quickly looked away when Rufus and Tseng in unison eyed "warning signs" back at him. "Not that it's my business or anything..." he trailed off.

Rufus had relaxed a bit into his chair, looked up at the ceiling, and said the only thing he could really think of at the moment. "Well, this is turning out to be quite an interesting day."

 


	8. VIII

Reno hadn't moved from his place and just stared at the floor, thinking about everything that had just gone on. He was angry and confused. His boss was playing a dangerous game, and of what it was about exactly, he couldn't figure it out. He knew Rufus had always had a greedy nature to him, needing to have the best of the best surrounding him. All Reno could think is if he should just go ahead and kill the brothers while they didn't expect it. Except the possibility of losing his own life for doing so did not really seem too appealing. Getting demoted or fired he could live with, but not living at all, that was something he would never purposely search for.

Replaying the events in his mind, Reno started to take note of all that had taken place. First, he found that the brothers were a hell of a lot more dangerous than he had once thought, but not because of the fact they were of Sephiroth and Jenova's blood. It was because they were quarrelling with each other. Their relationship with each other was extremely rocky, and Reno couldn't help but think something bad was going to come of it. He wasn't too worried about Loz; he obviously was content to do what he is told, well, for the most part. The only problem was that even though the brother had shown he most likely favored Yazoo, he was still loyal to Kadaj. Or, at least would be more likely to listen to him since he was the most dominant of the group. Yazoo had it written all over his face, in more ways than one, of how he wanted to be as far from here as possible, but what trouble would he cause before leaving? Would he use Shinra against his brother, or kill them all to get them out of his way? Whose side would Loz be on? Whose side would Yazoo be on? Did Yazoo want Mother for himself to become Sephiroth, and destroy Kadaj, or destroy Mother so Kadaj couldn't have her?

Another problem for Reno is that he also wasn't sure which side his own team was on. Rufus was always for himself, whatever it took to get what he wanted. Was Rufus doing this for good, or for curiosity's sake? Possibly the power? None of those had a positive outlook. How far would Tseng go with Rufus? Even he had to be having doubts, but with his dutiful nature, who knew what he would do. Reno wanted to ask Tseng later, but wasn't sure if that would be wise since Tseng might see it as him questioning Rufus' decisions and Turks didn't do that. Where Rude was concerned, Reno wasn't worried. If it went too far and out of control he knew his partner would follow common sense and be on his side. Other than that though, Reno didn't like feeling so alone in the situation. He had no clue who the real enemies should be anymore. Well, Kadaj was a given, but who else? Besides Rude and Kadaj, he had no idea where everyone else was headed, and he felt very uncomfortable about it. In addition, Reno was still pissed about how Rufus let Kadaj all over the nurse like he did.

"Have anything you'd like to share with the rest of us?"

The sudden statement broke Reno from his thoughts. It was from Rufus, and obviously directed to him.

"No sir." Reno answered quickly, with a bit of a nervous edge to his tone.

"Hm. Well don't hold out on me if you do." Rufus replied, warnings laced through his words. He was not in the mood to deal with defiance.

"Yes sir." Reno said a bit quieter this time. He needed to keep some type of control over himself if he was to move around freely in Shinra's charge.

Rufus watched Reno for another moment, waiting to see if he was going to get any attitude, which he was pleased didn't come. He shifted in his chair and cleared his throat. "Ok, on to the next round. Rude, I want you to follow Loz. You are both about the same size, if something happens you will be the best match. Reno, you will follow Yazoo. If something happens with him, I think you'd be the least likely to get fought with since he seems content with annoying you." The corner of Rufus' mouth quirked up when he saw Reno clench his jaw, not liking the fact that his boss had noticed it.

"Well, I don't think he is amused by me any longer." Reno replied.

"Perhaps, but so far, though very slight, you are still the one he interacted with willingly. Besides, I know you don't like him very much, so I see this as well deserved."

Reno relaxed a little since he'd rather have this as punishment than what it could have been.

Rufus must have noticed this, so made sure to add in, "Oh, you will still have an appointment about manners with Tseng tomorrow. Since we all will be up late tonight, it wouldn't be as effective. I want you wide awake for it."

Reno cringed, then let out a defeated sigh. _'I should have known better than to think he'd forget…Fuck…hey, wait a sec…'_ "Hey, boss, who's going to be watching the brat?…ehr, I mean, Kadaj" he quickly corrected himself.

"No one." Rufus answered, not surprised by the stunned looks he was getting, so explained further. "It is from past and present experience that I have noticed he likes to let everyone know what he's doing. I already know what information is where, as well as I doubt he is a computer friendly person, seeing his short temper. I won't really need to worry about him messing with those. Most likely, he is going to rummage through things that he can put his hands on, but mostly just wander around and make his presence known. He already knows where my mind is at concerning Jenova. I expect him to go through Turk and SOLDIER files, try to get information about us personally, and the information he'll find won't be damaging to us when fighting. That's why I'm not too worried. He knows how much I want from him, and that I wouldn't risk pushing it too far, or else risk losing everything."

"Well, then, why have the other two followed?" Reno asked, not arguing, but sincerely wanting to know.

Rufus nodded, understanding the question. I'm having Rude follow Loz more for his own protection. Loz is not stupid, but it does seem he has problems deciding for himself, or perhaps making decisions on his own that might not be the most logical. If something happens, I would like someone there. The one I am most concerned with right now is Yazoo. He is obviously highly intelligent, and who knows what he might do. Since he and Kadaj aren't on the best of terms, and I really don't know if they ever have been, he seems the most likely to turn. Yazoo erased everything from all files in existance three years ago, who knows what he'll do this time. Also, of them all, he doesn't seem to want anyone know what goes on in his head, therefore we wouldn't know if he was planning something or not."

Reno nodded his head, the reasons making sense. _'Wow, the moron is actually saying something intelligent at the moment, remember this day…'_ Reno turned to face Rufus' desk, weary of having stood unmoving for so long. "So, can I go now?"

Rufus nodded. "I want both of you to check in with me once an hour to let me know how things are going. I will be located in security room 34, watching Kadaj from monitors of the section he's headed. At the very least want to know his location at all times." He then nodded, signaling that their meeting was now over and to get going.

Reno half saluted the president on his way to the door, happy to finally be leaving the presence of his employer.

xXx

 _'Damn him…'_ Was the constant thought going on in Yazoo's head as he stormed down the hallway. People were everywhere, or so it seemed. He preferred to be alone. No one to bother him, no one to distract him from his goals. Yazoo couldn't help but sneer at some of the people he passed. Some backed away, not from fear of the clone, but rather from the fear of the President should they lay a finger on his guests.

Yazoo stopped in the middle of the hallway, wondering what to do with himself. Searching nooks and crannies were not going to get him anything but wasted time, and right now Yazoo needed to do something productive, or at least semi-engaging. Well, he always needed to do something or he would go crazy. His brain followed logic. Why do something if he knew it wouldn't give him satisfactory results? Yazoo crossed his arms and thought, all the while growing more edgy from the eyes on his back. So much so that it made Yazoo feel like there was a thousand spiders crawling under his skin. He had to think of something quick because he wouldn't be able to stand this much longer. _'Hmm, I know where I can go. I doubt much has changed in that area in three years, after all, it never changed all the years before then…'_

Yazoo smirked, took a quick look at his location, turned off to a side hallway and headed toward the stairs. He was headed for the lower levels, the ones below ground.

xXx

Reno had just made it into the hallway in time to see Yazoo with a smirk and stride off. Not wanting to lose the bastard, Reno didn't bother waiting for Rude to come out after him. Sure, they were going to separate locations anyway, but he did want to vent, just now wasn't going to work. Reno started to walk over to where the clone had disappeared. _'Just where in the hell is he going?'_ When Reno made it over to the door leading to the downstairs, the sight made his shoulders droop. _'He didn't…'_

"Shit."

What had made Reno snap this out was that through the small window on the door, he had seen Yazoo swing his legs over the railing to where he was sitting on it and facing down. The man seemed to take only a moment's consideration of the action he was taking, and pushed himself off the railing, heading to an unknown floor level. The reason it pissed Reno off was that unlike the damn guy, he couldn't go jumping off high staircases.

 _'I don't even know where he's going. I can't see from here. Ooh I know!'_ Reno grabbed his cell phone and called up the security room that dealt with more systems than anything. After the first ring heard the man.

"Hello?"

"Hey Dan, can you tell me what door at the stairs is being, or has been, opened in the last minute? I'm on Shinra's floor and I want to know about the floors beneath me." Reno demanded. He knew the guy wouldn't take it personally, he knew how Reno could get.

"Sure, no problem. Let's see…hmm. Ok, we got it. It looks like 2B. Is there an intruder?" Dan asked.

 _'Ok, I'm on floor 8, we got 2B. Jesus…He just jumped down 10 goddamn levels.'_ Reno gave a frustrated sigh. "No. Just keeping watch on something." He didn't offer any more information, and Dan didn't push for more. He was used to Shinra and his secrets. Besides, sometimes it was better not to know.

"Well, good luck on what you're doing. Need anything else?" The security man asked.

"No Dan, it's fine now, and thanks. Also, before you say it, I'll try not to get killed." Reno smirked as he heard the man chuckle on the other end.

"We've done this way too much haven't we? I'll talk to you another time." -CLICK-

Reno shook his head and went to the elevator. He would take it until he got to the main floor level, that was as far down as it went anyway, and would have to use the stairs the rest of the way. It didn't surprise him there were a couple sub-levels since most buildings had them. It was ok though. By moving via stairs it would make it easier to sneak up on the remnant and hopefully catch him in the act of doing something, anything.

 _'God…why do I gotta do this? Oh yeah, because I'm one of the best. Times like this I wish I was a crappy employee. Then I wouldn't have to deal with this bullshit…this elevator music is shit too…'_ Reno winced as Pina Colada played.

xXx

Yazoo kept track of the levels he passed as his downward speed increased. Within a couple of seconds, he found what he wanted. He quickly reached out with his arm and grabbed a bar, using the momentum of the sudden stopping and slight rising of his body, he pulled up fast to flip himself over the railing to land soundlessly on the metal landing. Yazoo was becoming entertained, knowing that he was already pissing of the Turk that he knew was no doubt following him. From here, the games were to begin. He took his badge key and swiped it through the computerized lock. Yazoo reached out and opened the door.

xXx

Reno eagerly left the elevator, happy to get away from music only lame people would listen to. He turned to walk the few feet to the stairs and walk the last two floors that were below the main level. It didn't take him too long to get there. He didn't run. He wanted to catch Yazoo in the act of whatever he had planned on doing. If he did, he could have an excuse to beat his ass up. Reno slowly crept up to the door, peeking through the small window, making sure no one was there. _'Good. All clear. I'm coming to get you…freak.'_ Reno swiped his badge and went in, completely unaware of the glowing green eyes that watched from the level below, looking up through the grated metal. Everything else was shrouded by the darkness. Silently the figure turned around and leapt off the railing.


	9. VIIII

Quiet filled the office.  Shinra still sat in his chair with Tseng silent at his side.  "Ok Tseng, speak your mind, I know that something is going on inside, there always is."  Rufus commented followed by a soft chuckle when hearing the man let out a breath of air.  As Rufus, relaxed back into his chair Tseng walked around the desk to where he could look at his President face-to-face.  This was the only person of whom Rufus always allowed to ask or give opinions openly and with complete honesty.  He always waited until they were in private for one, secondly, regardless of any decisions that would be made, he would follow orders, no questions asked.  Rufus held the utmost respect for this man.  
  
Tseng looked into Rufus' eyes, complete concern coming forth.  "I am not questioning about which Remnants you have chosen to have followed but of all people to follow Yazoo, why did you pick Reno?  I know for a situation such as this you would not do this only for the sake of punishment as there is a lot at stake."  Tseng slowly drew in a soft breath before his final inquiry.  "What else are you hoping to gain with this course of action?"  
  
"As always, ever the observant one" an amused smile spread across Rufus' face.  "I understand exactly what you are asking and my reason is thus; Reno will stop at nothing to get what he wants.  I can tell he does not hate the clone just for the sake of it.  He hates not knowing what is going on, and inside Yazoo's head, it is swarming with possibilities in discovering secrets, as well as uncovering truths.  When Reno gets into this state of mind I find he becomes quite passionate and unrelenting up to the very end."  Rufus leaned further back into his chair with his hands behind his head, complete self-satisfaction of his wonderful conclusions.  He raised an eyebrow as his bodyguard laughed.  
  
"Agreed, but there is more to this I can tell, what is it?"  
  
Rufus smiled back.  "Well, all of that has to do with is the opportunity to at least track some of the history of these brothers.  Yazoo is going to lead him on some random chase through this building and no doubt other places at other times."  Sitting back upright, running a finger around the edge of a piece of paper before pushing it to the side, he continued "I know some places the clone has never been to and might end up there out of curiosity, however, I'm positive that many places he knows about because he's been there before.  Because Reno will never give up the chase for anything or half-ass his job, he will take note and report to me every location that was entered.  Just knowing this I can look up on what these particular places were used for back then.  By doing so I might be able to uncover more events and information.  A trail of bread crumbs if you will."  A sly smile came to view accompanied by the ever present arrogance.   
  
Tseng nodded, quite impressed with his superior's plans, however, a warning came to his mind of enough importance that he felt the need to share.  "I find this all well thought out except I feel I must advise you on something."  The man paused until he saw the Rufus was listening intently.  "These qualities that have made Reno one of your top Turks...There might be a possibility it will backfire on you if he thinks you are hiding information and using him.  I know you have information and plans for usage in the near future, but I must stress with the utmost sincerity to tread carefully where he is concerned.  If he were to have a valid reason to search into the depths of your true purpose that lies somewhere beneath all of this..."  The man trailed off, giving Rufus a stern yet protective look.  "He could possibly undo everything you have built up to this point as well as destroy your plans and its success for what is to come."  That was the end of what was to be an opinionated warning that had ended up sounding more like a lecture.  
  
Rufus closed his eyes and smiled.  He loved Tseng like an older brother and in some strange way liked it when he took a bit of a stand back to him.  _'All the years I've known him he's never changed.  If he only knew the true value, I hold of him and his mind.  I wonder how he will react to one particular plan I have.  I'm sure that he won't come along for the ride with that one, but I can't have someone like him as an adversary.  If that comes to pass...I'll miss him...'_  
  
Rufus gave a snort.  "Noted"  
  
xXx  
  
 _'Why is he making us do this?  He's never been so mean...'_   Loz questioned silently to himself.  He was extremely confused and becoming more unsure of the situation.  He was already upset with himself for having only stood up to Kadaj in Shinra's office, in order to help Yazoo.  However, things were a lot worse this morning, and yet he had walked away. He didn't know everything that had happened afterword, but he did hear the screams.  He didn't know exactly what went on, just like the last time it happened.  He just knew pain was involved and that if he did know all the details of what occurred both times, he would be short one brother.  By his own hands no less.  Loz continued his way through the warehouse area.  He was relieved that Kadaj had sent him to an easier place, with not so many people around.  He wasn't good at handling people.  He wasn't known for making quick decisions.  He knew when to fight though, and would go to the extreme, but when it came to verbal matters, he would definitely fall short.  He continued wandering around, doing his best about thinking of things other than Kadaj possibly turning on Yazoo and himself.  Also, if Kadaj was this bad alone, how much worse would it be to have Sephiroth around?  
  
Not too far behind, but still out of sight, Rude continued his watch.  He wasn't too worried about any unwanted behavior from this one.  He seemed too preoccupied with his thoughts, as well as everyone had orders to leave the clones alone.  Rude was relieved knowing that at least one of the men was not going to be a problem.  He was more worried about his partner, since Reno had taken it upon himself to insult the one he was now trailing.   All Rude could hope for, was that Rufus was right, on that Yazoo most likely wouldn't kill Reno, just harass him instead.  Rude couldn't repress his smirk.  _'If that happens Reno will most likely be wishing he had been killed.  He can't stand being messed around with to the point he will be driven insane.  Already under the pressure of Tseng and Rufus, and now following that one clone.  Things can't be going too well for him.'_   Rude just shook his head, knowing that his partner must be pretty pissed by now.  
  
xXx  
  
A small sound filled the room.  Constant tapping.  A loud yell followed it.  The tapping continued.  It was the sound of a certain Turk's, once beautifully shined shoe, which was now currently graced with dust.  Reno let go of his hair that he so un-elegantly pulled at in complete anger and frustration.  
  
"THAT SON-OF-A-BITCH!!!"  Reno knew he'd been had.  It didn't take a genius to figure out that the clone had merely opened and closed the door to make it appear that he had entered this area just for the purpose of throwing him off track.  Clenched fists shook with rage for a moment longer before he yanked his phone from his pocket, pounding the keys so hard that it was a miracle they functioned at all.  
  
"Hey, how's it going?"  
  
"Dan, the fucker ain't here.  He pulled one over on us which means he's somewhere below me.  Do you have any new leads?"  
  
"Wow, uhm lemme see..."  
  
Reno paced back and forth massaging his temples, trying unsuccessfully to ease the ache that was steadily growing. _'Please please please please ple-'_ the pleading mantra suddenly cut off as the security man's voice came back to him.  
  
"You're not going to like this, but...everything under you is old and unused.  No cameras or anything functions down there.  I suspect all the rest is either leftovers from when the deep levels exploded back then, or the others that are still partially intact but abandoned from not being worth the time to fix because enough damage was done not to make it worth Shinra's time.  Can't say I blame him.  Sorry Reno, that's all I can give you.  Looks like you're on your own.  Oh, by the way-"  
  
"I won't get myself killed yeah yeah..."  He cut off Dan from completing what he has heard the man say multiple times over the years of working together.  Not that he minded, it was like an inside joke with them, akin to the saying of 'break a leg'.  Reno let out a sigh and ended the call.  _'Now what am I supposed to do?  Oh, yeah, my amazing hunting skills of tracking down a scrap bastard of whom my shit headed employer is obsessed with because he's an idiot...'_ Reno fumed as he quickly spun on his heel, headed out from where he came, and his shoulders drooped when he saw that everything was dark around him.  He thought before it was because it was the last level, no need for lighting beyond that, but now was aware that it was just a great black abyss beneath him that went down to God knows how deep.   
  
Reno put his phone on flashlight mode and used it to look beyond from where he came.  To his left he saw a metal railing that was blocking off from going any further.  Looking closer he could see that the stairs were warped with a look from being melted from high heat, no doubt from the fires.  _'Now what the hell am I supposed to do?  It's not like I'm the Wonder Freak...Oh for Jenova's sake...'_   Reno's inner bitchings cut off when the light shined onto one of those tiny escape ladders on the wall just next to the railing.  He reached over to it and gave it a sharp jab, noticing with utter dismay that old debris fell from it as it rattled, obviously not the most secure thing in the world.  Reno stared at it.  Just stared.  Kept staring.  Still stared.  Stared some more.  Letting out a stressed whine, Reno put the phone in his mouth to continue having some type of lighting while inwardly praying he wouldn't drop it and be left in complete darkness while doing what he was about to do.  He slowly put one hand on the railing, the other on the side of the very slim, very rusted and very, VERY unstable ladder and swung his leg over the metal.  Reno had sudden visions of him grasping to a shitty ladder while screaming like a girl as they both fell to their deaths, that is, if the crusted metal piece of shit actually had a life...  
  
xXx  
  
A smirk appeared upon the mouth of a very amused man.  Yazoo chuckled as he had heard the yelling from above him.  It was faint, seeing as how he was already a few (quite a few) levels below.  Just the knowledge that he had only done one thing to that ass and already was getting this type of response thrilled him to no end.  Yes, he was going to enjoy this.  Yazoo wandered past another door and down another flight of stairs, contemplating on what he would do next to piss Reno off, suddenly smiling wide on his next course of action.  
  
xXx  
  
"Oh thank the heavens.  I love you sweet Lord yes, yes, I do."  Sounded from the extremely stressed being when he discovered he only had to descend two levels before usable stairs came into view.  Reno climbed over another railing, a sigh of relief escaping as both his feet touched solid metal, followed by lifting the finger to the ladder behind him.  "Ok, so, now how do I figure out where the asshole went to?  It's not like I can go into every single damn door on my way down.  There's got to be a way to make this easier", he mumbled to himself while rubbing his chin, eyes suddenly lighting up with glee as he figured it out.  "Yes!  All this old crap!" he exclaimed.  He came up with this amazing thought while staring at the door next to him.  He was remembering all the dust and dirt sitting on everything untouched and that if Yazoo had entered any of these rooms the dirt would be disturbed on the handles.  Not a bad observation if he said so himself.  Reno merrily continued downward while shining his light at the doors he passed on every level.  "Bingo..."  
  
Tapping.  More tapping.  More and more.  Reno's eyes were closed, arms crossed over his chest, a crazed giggle sounding.  _'I'm gonna kill him I swear to God!.'_ It turned out that Yazoo, yet again, had fucked him over.  Reno's eyes were watering from trying to hold back all the anger and rage that was begging to be released.  The clone really was smart, smarter than Reno had previously given credit for, and now he was getting the hands on education that was not at all welcome.  Since it seemed like the fucker was who knows how many steps ahead of him, gripped onto the handle while passing by making it look like this was where he was.  Reno's heart was slamming so hard it seemed it was going to burst out his chest, all from the knowledge that he really was going to have to check each and every level below him.  After all, there was no doubt in his mind that the freak had done this to every God damned door below.  Reno checked his phone; it had been slightly over an hour of the designated callback time.  He had been so preoccupied with shitty rooms, crappy ladders, and his previously thought to be victorious idea, that he had almost forgotten to contact Shinra.  The poor Turk sighed as he dialed his employer, hoping against hope that some type of bad karma would wait for another time to bite him in his ass since he was about to tell on how he lost track of Shinra's precious supermodel.  Why did his phone have to be fully charged?  
  
"You're thirteen minutes late.  I expected better from you." came the stern voice of his employer.  
  
Reno cringed internally.  "Yeah I came to a bit of a setback.  Where he has gone down to is beyond 2B so I had to do some ladder climbing and stair walking just to get to some more of these lower levels.  I know for a fact he hasn't come back up or I would have seen him.  Just that, well...Ok, just as you predicted he's been screwing with me and I still haven't caught up with him", _'hope you're happy'._  
  
Rufus chuckled.  "Yeah I figured as much, which is why I'm not extremely disappointed in your late check-in.  It's nice to know I have someone who works for me that will fulfill his duties no matter the situation.  Talk to you soon."  Was the final reply before the phone went silent.  
  
 _'Wow I thought he was going to be pissed at me.  Guess he has some type of understanding on what's going on.  How magnanimous of him...'_ After a slight pause, Reno thought of something new.  A way he would definitely not have to search every room.  All he would have to do was open each door and see if there were footprints leading past the thresholds.  With a sigh of relief, some of the tension receded.  It didn't make it better on how he didn't know how far down he would have to go before accomplishing his goal but at least this was something solid.   
  
  
 xXx  
  
An arm stretched through a hole in the wall, old pieces crumbling off as it moved around, stopping as the slender, ungloved fingers, found what they sought.  _'There we go.'_   Though it was tough at first to get it to move at all, the switch finally flipped up, sparks coming off followed by irregular flashing of lights before finally stabilizing and lighting up everything around.  Yazoo had to tug a little bit to free his arm which he stretched all the way in up to his shoulder, his face against the wall.  Sudden irritation grew when he found he was a bit, well, stuck.  Letting out an annoyed huff, fluttering his bangs, in turn fragments of wall shavings released their hold from his beautiful silky strands and gave a good yank.  Damn it hurt.  More of the wall crumbled off while Yazoo glared at it hatefully, massaging his arm.  _'Whatever...'_ was his only thought as he spun around and continued further into the room, destination unknown.  Yes, Yazoo did have a place he wanted to go to, but he had to explore a bit before going there.  Besides, he had just come up with a new game to play...  
  
xXx  
  
By now, the redhead was quite worn out.  Sure, he was used to running around and fighting, but sure as hell he was not used to playing Stairmaster, ESPECIALLY not ten floors worth.  His thighs burned with that of a thousand suns, his feet screamed mercy, for dress shoes weren't really the most choice footwear to don when doing these types of exercises.  Grumbling as always, Reno reached out and opened another damn door, pausing with disbelief at what he saw.  He was so out of it that he hadn't noticed the gleam of light coming out from underneath it but considering how long he had been in the dark he sure as hell saw it now.  He stepped into the room nearly blinded by all the light.  Reno gave himself a moment for his eyes to recover before actually taking in his surroundings.  Amazingly enough the area seemed in pretty decent condition save for the dust that had settled over time.  Running his hands through his hair, finally feeling some relief, he looked around to see which hallway he should take first.  He wasn't even worried about having his EMR at the ready since he knew the bastard wanted him to know where he was or would have tried to kill him by now.  That was, until he heard some faint noise up the hall to his right.  Reno tipped his head and began his trek to unknown territory of which also was accompanied by verbal grumblings.  
  
Reno slowly strode down the hall following the sounds, odd ones at that.  For the life of him, he couldn't figure out what the clone was doing and boy was he in for a surprise...  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
    
  



End file.
